Incoming
by Don'tForgetTheNotes
Summary: A drunken night leads to something which could either bring Lauren and Joe together or rip them apart for good. Certainly contains Laurwalk but also has slight Breredith later. Warning some chapters contain smut
1. The Morning After

_A/N: I do not own the characters they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are all for the sake of the story._

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Lauren slowly came out of her deep sleep but kept her eyes closed. With the throbbing pain in her head she wasn't sure if she was able to open her eyes. What had she drunk last night? More to the point what had she done last night? She remembered going out with the other StarKids after rehearsal to celebrate Meredith's birthday but then had come those shots Jaime kept making her down and all memories after that were a little hazy. She slowly turned over and squinted her eyes a little as even through her eye lids the sunlight was hurting her eyes. Lauren took a breath and opened her eyes before quickly closing them as the light blinded her.

However the few seconds she had been able to look at her surroundings made her freeze. She was quite sure that when she had opened her eyes she had been facing black curtains. This wasn't right as the curtains she had in the room of the apartment she shared with her best friend Julia were red. Black curtains meant she wasn't at home. So where was she? Her mind sped through images of friends' bedrooms trying to work out who had black curtains but she just couldn't make a connection.

Lauren's eyes flew open as she heard a deep sigh behind her. Suddenly everything in her mind fell into place. She knew who had black curtains. Joe Walker had black curtains. Making as little noise as possible she slowly sat up and looked down to her left. Joe was on his side facing away from her. As she looked down at him she got a sudden urge to touch his face. He looked so sweet when he was asleep. She'd really started to notice it during the long bus journeys on the SPACE tour. Often she'd found herself just staring at him, when he was asleep he looked so young and innocence. Everyone treated her as the baby of the group, even though she was one of the oldest so it had made her happy to think the big and brave Joe Walker didn't always look so tough. Sometimes he looked very cute.

She shook her head quickly. Now was not the time to be thinking about how cute Joe was. Now was the time to be thinking about why she was lying in his bed…with no clothes on. The thought that they'd probably slept together turned her stomach a little. She liked Joe, a lot, but she'd never said anything to him as saying something made everything complicated. What if he didn't feel the same way? What if they did get together but then broke up? Lauren looked past him to his bedside alarm clock, 10:46am. 'Shit' she thought to herself, they had rehearsal at 12. It would take her too long to go back to her apartment before going to the studio they were rehearsing in but she sure didn't want to stick around for Joe to wake up. She quickly slipped out of bed and looked around for her clothes.

As she found them in a heap at the end of the bed she instantly regretted deciding to wear the sparkly short shorts she'd worn on the SPACE tour for last night's outing. As she pulled on her clothes she stopped every so often to check Joe was still asleep. Finally she slipped her feet into her ballet flats and looked around for her bag. She couldn't see it so hoped it was somewhere in the apartment. As she reached the door she looked back at Joe one last time. Her heart sank a little, she didn't want to leave him but she was scared. What if when he woke up seeing her made him regret what they had done? She was such a bucket of emotions right now that she couldn't deal with Joe's possible rejection. At last she stole out of the room. She found her bag on the hall table and checked all her belongs were in it. Once she was happy she had everything she slowly let herself out of the apartment.

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_A/N: Please review : )_


	2. Hangovers

_A/N: I do not own the characters they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are all for the sake of the story._

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She made it into the studio ten minutes late. Although she quickly realised there hadn't been any need to rush as it seemed everyone was running late after last night. The only people who had made it in on time were Jaime and Denise. As Lauren walked across to the far side of the studio she felt her cheeks blushing slightly. Jaime and Denise had stopped talking as she had appeared in the doorway and Lauren felt their eyes on her as she walked. She sure was finding it hard to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why she still had last night's clothes on. She waited as long as possible before taking out her earphones and was glad she did for as soon as she pulled them out.

'Late night was it Lo?'

Lauren wrapped her earphones around her iPod before straightening up and turning to look at her friends. She tried to look as calm as possible and smiled as she walked over to them and sat down. She tried not to notice as the two shared a look. She decided the best option was to say something before either of them could ask the inevitable question.

'So where is everyone else?'

'I've only heard from Mere, she called like ten minutes ago and said she and Brian had only just woken up, they're going to be as quick as they can. I guess we'll just have to see who shows up.'

Lauren nodded as Jaime finished speaking and kept her head down, although her eyes keep flicking up to Denise who was smiling at her with a knowing look. Lauren's head was still spinning from her hangover. The coffee and gluten-free bagel she'd bought on the way hadn't really settled her churning stomach. She felt so queasy. There was only one thing for it. She lay down and curled up into a ball clutching her stomach tightly. She heard movement close by and then a rustle as someone sat down next to her and started playing with her hair.

'Come on Lo, if you're going to hide you night time antics it helps to not turn up the day after in last night's clothes.'

At first Lauren felt like ignoring Denise but they were her friends after all. She slowly sat up and looked at Denise and Jaime. However first she wanted to try and piece together what they had done last night.

'What did we even do last night?'

Jaime burst out laughing.

'I honestly do not know. I don't even remember going home last night but this morning I woke up on my living room floor.'

'I am blaming you completely for my hangover Jaime Lyn Beatty.'

Lauren couldn't keep glaring for long as Jaime looked at her in mock surprise.

'I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Yeah you two were pretty wasted last night.'

'Says you Denise.'

'Don't take that tone with me Lauren Lopez, at least I made it home last night.'

Lauren's face fell slightly as Denise spoke. She watched as Denise's smile faded. The three sat in silence for a while. They all looked round as they heard someone coming up the stairs. Meredith and Brian stumbled in, Brian was even wearing sunglasses. Jaime giggled.

'It's not really the weather for sunglasses is it Brian?'

'Trust me his eyes as so blood shot they could probably burn holes right through you.'

Brian stopped and turned round to look at his girlfriend.

'Oh thanks Mere.'

She beamed at him and flopped down next to her friends placing a bag of junk food in the middle of their growing circle. Brian quickly joined them and pulled a muffin out the bag, following his lead the others dove into the bag all except for Lauren. Meredith watched her as she ate.

'Nice shorts Lo.'

This seemed to remind Jaime and Denise about the earlier conversation and they both smiled.

'Yeah Lauren didn't go home last night.'

'She stayed out and had some sex!'

Lauren's cheeks flushed scarlet and she stared at Denise in shock. Denise's eyes widened and she smiled.

'Oh my god!'

The others quickly put two and two together and began rolling around and jumping in excitement. Jaime grabbed Lauren's hands and forced her to look at her.

'Was he good?'

'JAIME!'

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_A/N: So what do you guys think so far? : )_


	3. Awkward Questions

_A/N: Okay so I'm carrying on, I've been staring at it all day and I'd feel I'd let myself down if I just kept it to myself. : )_

_TearsOfaClown: All will be revealed soon!_

_Guest: I honestly did not intend to make it similar and up until a few hours before I uploaded it I was going to call it A Happy Accident but it didn't really fit._

_Definitivebliss: Thank you! I liked happy danced when I saw someone thought I should carry on._

_ : Thank you! Well I hope you like this chapter!_

_Enna: Seriously thank you so much for this, I felt so happy when I saw this and it made me feel a lot better. Thank you : )_

_I do not own the characters they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are all for the sake of the story._

_Any similarities to any other story are purely coincidental and were unintended._

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Lauren shuffled away she cheeks burning but she wasn't fast enough. Before she knew it the three girls had grabbed hold of her and were keeping her firmly in a sitting position. She looked into each of their faces before turning to Brian. Before she could say anything he held his hands up.

'Sorry Lo, you know what they're like; they won't give up until you tell them.'

The three girls nodded and smiled in agreement. Lauren glared at him but then sighed.

'Fine, yes from what I remember he er was good.'

Lauren was almost deafened by their screams. She closed her eyes and tried as hard as she good to remember anything. It was all still a little hazy but then a snippet of a memory came floating to the front of her mind.

She was holding Joe's hand as he pulled her out the cab. As they walked through the door into his building she had almost fallen over which at the time she had found very funny. She remembered squealing slightly as Joe had picked her up and carried her over to the elevator; his arms had felt so strong around her. Once inside he'd set her down but kept a supporting arm around her. Lauren remembered looking up at Joe, and then.

'Joseph Walker, I love you.'

Joe had seemed taken aback by what she had said she herself was shocked by what had just come out of her mouth but she quickly responded as his lips came crashing down onto hers. His breathe smelt of alcohol but she knew hers wouldn't be much better. She stood up on her tip toes as he pulled her closer to him. His hands moved up and down her back and then rested on her ass. She looped her arms around his neck and then he was lifting her up so they were level. Without thinking Lauren locked her legs around his waist. His tongue was in her mouth pulling her tongue into his. She'd then be vaguely aware they'd reached his floor and he was walking still carrying her but then everything became hazy again.

She came back to reality and opened her eyes. Jaime, Meredith and Denise seemed to be having a very animated discussion about which boys they had seen Lauren with last night.

'Girls calm down!'

They slowly fell silent and looked at her expectantly. Jaime finally spoke.

'So are you going to see this boy again?'

'Maybe.'

There was something inside her that was telling her it wasn't the best idea to break to them that they knew 'this boy' very well.

'Did you get his number?'

'No.'

This caused the girls to mutter between themselves. But there hadn't been any need to get his number as she already had it, although she didn't tell them that.

'Okay so what happened this morning?'

'I just got up and left before he woke up.'

Jaime, Denise and Meredith stared at her in shock before bursting into fits of giggles.

'Oh wow, Lauren Lopez you little minx. I never thought you would be the one to have not only a one night stand but then just leave in the morning without saying anything.'

'Who had a one night stand?'

They all turned around as Dylan walked into studio, looking intrigued to learn more about the conversation he'd overhead.

'Lauren did!'

Dylan looked surprised which made Lauren start to panic slightly. Any minute Joe could walk through the door. How would he react when the girls blurted out that she had had sex? He was the one she had had sex with. Would he say anything? She knew she had to speak to him before he saw the others. She tried pulling away from the girls but they held her tighter.

'Hey we're not done with you yet!'

'I need to pee!'

As Lauren had expected all three instantly let go out her. Lauren was famous for having the worst bladder control in human history. She stood up and as she was heading out of the door she bumped into the Lang brothers and Jeff, all looking a little worse for wear. She waved at them and pointed to the restroom. They nodded before heading in to join the rest of the group.

After she'd peed Lauren looked at herself in the mirror. She ran through scenes in her head of how she would speak to Joe but they all fell through eventually. She pulled a stray piece of hair behind her ear just as the door opened.

'Where have you been?'

Lauren couldn't help but smile as she took in the angry look on her roommate's face. Julia wasn't often angry so the odd times it did happen everything she did cracked Lauren up. She turned to face her friend and hugged her.

'Sorry I didn't call or anything. To be honest I don't even remember last night.'

'Well I'm sorry I didn't call looking for you, I only realised this morning you weren't in the apartment.'

The two laughed. Lauren noticed Julia looking her up and down and smiled sheepishly. Julia giggled and handed her a bag.

'Figured you might need a change of clothes.'

Lauren pulled her best friend into a hug and squeezed her. Julia really was the best, best friend she had ever had. Ever since they'd first met she'd always been able to trust her. She took the bag into the stall and started changing. Julia really did know her, for in the bag Lauren found leggings and her favourite blue unicorn top.

'So where did you end up last night? The girls were babbling about some, one night stand or something.'

Lauren stopped dead. Julia was her best friend, her roommate. She should tell her, she could tell her in confidence, but still her voice sounded small as she muttered.

'Erm…Walker's'

She remained as quiet as possible as she heard Julia gasp. Lauren slowly opened the stall door and looked at her. Julia was clutching onto the sink counter as if she was about to keel over from shock.

'Did-did you…?'

Lauren nodded slowly. She watched as Julia opened and closed her mouth a few times and blinked repeatedly.

'Well I wasn't expecting that.'

Lauren slowly walked over to Julia and looked at her.

'Please don't tell anyone, I still haven't spoken to Joe about it.'

'I wouldn't dream of telling…and what are you going to talk to him about?'

Lauren stopped, what was she going to talk to him about? Last night she'd told him she loved him but did she really? She'd had a crush on him for a while but had never had the guts to say anything. She was still having memory loss, what if he was too? What if she went up to him and told him and he had no memory of what happened? She would never be able to live that down. Lauren decided she would only say something if Joe said anything to her.

'I don't know.'

She packed her used clothes into the bag and slowly walked out of the room with Julia following. As they were walking back down the corridor through the door to the studio, Lauren could see that the rest of the cast had arrived, all except for Joe. Lauren and Julia reached the studio doorway and were just about to go back inside when Lauren noticed someone walking up the stairs out of the corner of her eye. Joe. She stared at him wide eyed. Julia hadn't noticed she'd stopped and had carried on into the studio leaving them alone out in the hall.

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_A/N: Hope you enjoyed! : )_


	4. Flashback

_A/N: WARNING CONTAINS SMUT!_

_Okay so here it is! Thank you so much to everyone who has read so far! You have all really inspired me to carry on. Although I may have edited this chapter in my film studies lesson yesterday…didn't really think that through but only the boy sat next to me saw it and he just said 'are you fifty shades part 4?' XD_

_Walker'sLampshade: Haha same! : )_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yay! Well here's the update! I would have updated yesterday but I had no internet XD_

_Guest: Thank you! Well here it is!_

_GottaGetBackUp: Thank you! The support I've gotten to carry on has really made my week :') And woo! Yes! I ship them so bad! And I'm warming to Joey/Jaime : ) and all will be revealed….mostly…haha_

_I do not own the characters they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are all for the sake of the story._

_Any similarities to any other story are purely coincidental and were unintended._

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He hadn't expected her to be the first person he saw when he came in. He hoped she couldn't hear what he was listening to. Ever since he'd left his apartment he'd been listening to the version of 'Get Back Up' from the Apocalyptour. It was one of the few songs they sung together so it was his favourite. Lauren had always been one of his best friends. She was funny, she was smart, and she was cute. No. She was his friend. They'd been drunk last night and let their feelings run away from them.

But it had been so amazing. She'd been amazing. His mind suddenly flashed back to how smooth her bare back had been as he'd drawn his fingers down the length of it. He blinked as he realised Lauren was staring at him. Her big brown eyes look troubled as if she wanted to say something but didn't know how to begin. He took a deep breath.

'Listen Lauren…erm about last night…'

'I'm sorry I left.'

Joe swallowed. It hurt him that he'd woken up and she hadn't been there, but he understood why she had left.

'Don't worry about it. It made it slightly less awkward for me as I had some time to sort my head out.'

He smiled as Lauren laughed and her eyes looked less troubled. She looked almost relieved which made him relax too.

'Put it down to that drunken experience that we laugh about in years to come?'

Joe laughed and nodded and accepted the hug Lauren pulled him into. However having her so close made him instantly regret that nod he'd just made. He couldn't just be friends with her, how could he? But he understood this was her decision so he was willing to accept it.

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Lauren knew this hug was lasting longer then it really should but Joe wasn't pulling away and she didn't want to either. Why had she said that? She couldn't go back on her words now. Although maybe it was for the best. They had been drunk and not thinking straight. But sometimes you were pushed before you jumped….

No. If she was going to be with Joe she wanted it to feel natural. Not just the result of one drunken night. So with regret she slowly pulled away. She couldn't read Joe's expression but did he almost seem unhappy the hug was ending? 'Don't do this to yourself Lo.' She thought to herself. She smiled at him and then gestured him into the room.

Once inside she picked up speed and retook her place next to Jaime and Denise. As she glanced around the room her eyes rested on Julia who was sat facing her. She followed as Julia's eyes slowly moved to look at Joe and then back again, her eyebrows rose. Lauren blinked and then dropped her eyes. She was saved as all attention turned to Nick as she stood up.

'Well seeing as this is only our second rehearsal I think it's safe to say we're off to a bad start.'

Ripples of laughter went through the group as they remembered last night. Lauren had enjoyed herself; it had been the first time they'd all been out together in a while, but what had happened after she had left them was floating around in her mind like a black fog that wouldn't clear. What scared her most was she could hardly remember anything. They had shared an intimate moment and now it was like it was nothing. But did she want it to mean something? She tried to push the thought out of her mind and focused on Nick who was reading out the day's rehearsal schedule.

They were rehearsing one of Joe's scenes first so those not needed moved to the outside of the room. Lauren sat with her back against the wall and waited for the scene to start. Denise came and lay down next to her and rested her head on Lauren's leg. Lauren instantly began playing with her hair. Her eyes came to rest on Joe just as he was stretching his arms causing his back muscles to pull at his shirt and suddenly she couldn't see the scene in front of her…

Joe carried her into his apartment and slammed the door behind them. He'd pushed her up against the closed door and then kissed her more passionately then anyone had ever kissed her in her life. His lips were soft against hers and when she had broken away for air he'd brushed his lips down her neck and kissed the base of her neck causing her eyes to roll back.

'I want you.'

His voice had come from right next to her ear and sounded husky. It really turned her on. In that moment she'd wanted nothing more than to have sex with Joe. She wanted to, needed to, had to. She brushed her lips against his ear and whispered.

'Take me.'

His lips had found hers again and he'd carried her towards his bedroom. Lauren dropped her bag down onto the hall table and gripped Joe's waist tighter with her legs. Slowly she'd pulled her hands through his soft hair causing him to groan slightly but he didn't stop kissing her. They reached the bedroom and went inside.

Once inside they were clumsy in their haste to undress each other. Lauren was probably ten times over the driving limit so the buttons on Joe's shirt seemed like the hardest math problem in the world.

As their kiss broke so Joe could pull her vest top over her head she'd looked closely at the buttons. She hadn't managed to undo any of them. What kind of buttons were these? She heard Joe laugh slightly before letting him pull her head up so they could carry on kissing. She'd felt his large hands over hers and then they were undoing his shirt together.

After that came their pants. Lauren had felt slight shivers as Joe slowly unzipped her shorts and pulled them down. Having his hands so closed aroused something deep inside her. When they reached her ankles she quickly kicked them off along with her shoes. Lauren's hand brushed across Joe's bulge and she felt his muscles tense. Her hand finally found the zipper, pulled it down and then pulled his pants down. Then there was just their underwear between them. Lauren huffed slightly as he'd pulled away from her. Joe kept eye contact with her as he pulled her over to the bed.

She'd giggled as he'd pulled her onto his knee and kissed her neck. Then she was falling as he pulled her down. He rolled them over so she was on top; he snapped her bra playfully before using both hands to unhook it. His warm hands moved down the length of her arms pulling her bra straps with them. As he pulled her bra off Lauren's breath quickened slightly, she twitched as his hands cupped her breasts. His touch felt electric as he'd rubbed the sensitive skin. This was really going to happen, they were doing this. She pulled on his bottom lip and felt his lips turn up into a smile as he slipped his hands under her panties. His hands had felt like fireworks as they moved across her ass. Then she'd felt him lift her panties off her skin and pull them down her legs. Lauren felt something hard brush against the top of her thighs. This was it. Joe rolled them over pulling his boxers down as he did. She heard the ripping of plastic and then Joe's hands moved down between them for a moment. Lauren looked up into his deep blue eyes. His breathing was getting quicker and deeper as he held her gaze. She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him down onto her.

'Lauren'

He moaned her name and grinded against her. He positioned himself over her and then Lauren dug her nails into his shoulders and moaned as he slipped inside. He started off slow but then became faster and faster. Lauren cried out and gripped his shoulders even tighter as she neared orgasm. She knew he was close too as he thrust harder into her and groaned loudly. Her back arched up off the bed as her whole body tensed.

'Lauren?'

Lauren stopped. The memory she was reliving seemed to pause and then slowly disappeared.

'Lauren!'

Why could she hear Denise's voice? Slowly she blinked and her head came back into the studio. Joe's scene was now in full-flow. Lauren slowly looked down and was met by Denise's annoyed face glaring up at her.

'You're not even listening to me!'

Lauren tried to think what Denise had been talking about but she didn't even remember her speaking. She sighed and looked apologetic.

'Sorry Deeds, I've got a lot on my mind right now.'

Denise's face softened and she nodded. Denise was such a good friend to her, it was clear she knew something was wrong but she would never ask. She would wait until Lauren was ready to talk. Lauren sensed movement and saw Denise was turning back onto her side to watch the rehearsal. Lauren also looked up at the scene before her. Joe was about to sing his song, off to the sides she saw Meredith, Jeff, Jaime and Brian waiting to go on. If her memory served her correctly she was in the next scene. She tried going over the lines she'd learnt during rehearsal yesterday but her mind kept wondering. That memory of last night had been so vivid. Lauren wasn't one to sleep around. It took a lot to get her into bed but she felt for the rest of her life she would always compare everyone to last night with Joe. He had made her feel things she had never felt before, and she had liked it. He'd been the best she'd ever had.

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_A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter! : )_


	5. Hurt Feelings

_A/N: Well here's the update! I don't really know how I feel about this chapter. It is kind of a filler to lead into the next chapter which I've already written but I hope you still like it. :')_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Thank you! I hope you like this one too, the next chapter is going to be longer : )_

_Immortalrmy: Hahaha thanks and yeah I totally agree : )_

_Guest: YAY! Well I hope this is just as good!_

_I do not own the characters they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are all for the sake of the story._

_Any similarities to any other story are purely coincidental and were unintended_

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Joe's scene ended and he took a moment as people in the next scene scrambled to get ready. They all were lagging behind a bit after last night. He did a double take as he saw Lauren had stood up and was pacing up and down the make shift stage left. He'd forgotten she was in this scene. But what should it matter? She was still the same person he'd rehearsed with over the years. Joe didn't know why he was lying to himself. It did nothing to help him. He sighed and slowly walked over to his mark.

It surprised him that no one noticed the awkwardness between him and Lauren. They were supposed to be doing a romantic scene but there was no chemistry at all. Joe worried slightly as he saw Matt writing notes, were they thinking of character changes? It also didn't help that Lauren managed to make it through the entire scene without looking at him once. Yeah she had to read from her script but no one needed to spend the entire time looking down. However he wasn't doing much better, more than once he'd found himself just staring at her. At her hair, her lips, her breast. He breathed a sigh of relief as the scene finally ended.

'Let's take five.'

He watched as Lauren nearly bolted for the bag Julia had brought her and pulled out her water bottle. It saddened him that something had changed between them and it was going to be a while before things could get back to normal.

Lauren slowly walked out of the studio, down the corridor and around the corner to the water fountain. That had been awful. She knew it was just because the emotions from last night were still raw but she hoped it wouldn't last long. They were friends, and nothing more. Then what was the cause of the sinking feeling in her stomach? She sighed unhappily and began to fill up her water bottle.

Why did it always seem to take so long to fill up? She rolled her eyes and scanned the posters on the wall. However she looked back the way she had come as she heard Brian speak.

'Hey Joe, don't think your actions last night went unnoticed. Dylan said he saw you getting in a cab with an unidentified girl.'

Shit. What was Joe going to say to that? Lauren thought about peeping around the corner to see his face but she couldn't risk detection. Her bottle was finally full and she quietly clicked off the button and picked it up to screw the lid on.

'Yeah we hooked up but to be honest she was a bit of a butterface.'

Lauren felt her mouth drop open in shock. She was a what? The rational part of her was saying that Joe didn't mean it, he was just saying it to cover their tracks but the emotional part of her wanted to march around the corner and slap Joe. She felt so insulted and angry but she also felt so upset. They'd shared something that Lauren was slowly realising meant so much to her and for Joe to say that made it seem like he didn't care and that she meant nothing.

'Well you win some you lose some.'

She closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing as she heard them laugh as they walked into the restrooms. She wasn't going to cry, she refused to let herself cry. Joe hadn't meant it. She had known Joe for a long time and knew he would never intentionally say something so horrible about a girl. He cared about peoples' feelings. On top of that he would be mortified if he knew she had heard him say it. As she thought through these things her began to breathe normally again. She was massively overreacting. However she felt uncomfortable as a new thought floated into her heard. What had she wanted him to say? What had happened last night was meant to be a mistake so then why did she want to know how Joe had found it? She shook her head. 'He's your friend Lauren, your friend.' She told herself over and over again. She suddenly realised she was still stood by the water fountain. Between her and the safety of the studio was Joe. He could come out of the restroom at any moment and she didn't think she could cope with being alone with him right now so with a deep breath she rounded the corner and speeded back into the studio.

By the time Joe and Brian walked back into the studio Lauren had settled herself down next to Julia and Jaime. She tried to listen to the story Denise was telling but her eyes were following Joe across the room. At this moment in time she both hated and loved him. She hated that one night had been enough to make her head over heels in love. She hated that he had so easily gone along with her idea to be friends. But she loved the way he had made her feel. She loved how caring and funny he was but most importantly, she had fallen for one of her best friends.

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_A/N: Okay so I don't think Joe would say something like that but it does fit with the story and he is trying to cover up what happened to protect Lauren._

_Hope you enjoyed it :D_


	6. Late

_A/N: Okay so this is a fairly longish chapter. Thank you to everyone who has read it so far!_

_Anon: Yay! And here it is :')_

_Guest: Well here it is! And aww! Yay!_

_Guest: Woo! Haha :D_

_I do not own the characters; they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Any similarities to any other story are purely coincidental and were unintended._

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Lauren woke up and sighed. How could she still be tired? The past three weeks had been so busy what with juggling rehearsals and work. Today they were announcing the new musical to the fans, giving them just a few weeks to try and get tickets. They always did leave the announcement to the last minute but it had become sort of a tradition.

She rolled out of bed and stood up, groaning slightly. Her back was killing; she made a mental note to tell Jim not to pick her up so roughly during that dance number. She stretched and stopped as she noticed her calendar. It was a unicorn one that Julia had bought her for Christmas but she wasn't looking at the picture, she was looking at the dates. It was January 31st already and she hadn't yet starred a date yet.

Trying and failing not to jump to conclusions she dove under her bed and pulled out last year's calendar. She opened it to December and tried to steady her breathing. Lauren liked to star her calendar when she got her period as keeping track gave her some idea as to when to expect next month's 'gift'. She carried the calendar over to the one on the wall. In December she'd starred the 22nd meaning January's should have been around the 19th. She looked from the calendar in her hands to the calendar on the wall. She was late. She'd been late before but she was getting on for two weeks late and that wasn't normal, was it? She slowly looked down at her abdomen. She couldn't be, could she? But they'd used projection, or so she thought.

'Hey Lo. You up?'

Hearing Julia's voice from somewhere in the apartment jolted her back into reality.

'Yeah I'm up.'

She stuffed the old calendar back under the bed and padded out of her room and towards the kitchen. She smiled and tried to act natural as Julia smiled at her and handed her a coffee a mug.

'We're going to need all the caffeine we can get.'

Lauren laughed in agreement and took a sip. She quickly put the mug down as she noticed her hand was visibly shaking. She folded her arms so Julia couldn't see the shakes. She tried to listen as Julia spoke about the rehearsals and which scenes she was having trouble with and then moved on to work and bills but Lauren could barely hear her. It felt like there was a screaming in her head that wouldn't stop. She tried to calm herself. She wasn't pregnant, she couldn't be pregnant. She just wasn't having a period this month. That was it, although this conclusion did little to settle her stomach.

Somehow she made it through breakfast without letting onto Julia that something was wrong and soon enough they were dressed and up and out to rehearsal.

The cold air cleared her head a little and she found herself relaxing. The worse thing to do was panic. She'd wait a few more weeks and then do a pregnancy test and that would show her how silly she was being. By this point they had reached the studio and as she put down her bag she smiled to herself and started to stretch.

It had been a long rehearsal but everyone was still smiling. In a few minutes Brian would upload the trailer for the new musical, freshly edited by Liam. Lauren was glad they were finally telling the big secret. She'd hardly been on twitter the past two weeks as she was scared she'd blurt something out and ruin the surprise.

'Okay, it's uploaded.'

Brian quickly tweeted a link to it from the TeamStarKid account and as one the rest of the group pulled out their phones and retweeted it and then with a link posted on the StarKidPotter page they sat back and watched the fandom go into overdrive. Lauren could keep up with the mentions and retweets and favourites she was getting on twitter. The group laughed as each read out some of their favourite tweets and comments. They all turned as Jaime spluttered on her drink.

'Guys the musical is trending!'

They all quickly looked and smiled. Their little fandom had done it again. They'd gotten through all the trends to trend it in the top ten worldwide. Lauren smiled as she saw what was also trending.

'Hey, look at what's 5th.'

Everyone squealed as they saw 'We Love Team Starkid' was also a trend. Lauren felt all warm and fuzzy inside. She was so lucky she was able to do what she loved with the people she loved most in the world. But this feeling didn't last long. By chance she happened to look up just as Joe glanced at her. Their eyes met and held for a few seconds before he looked away. She suddenly felt worried again, should she tell him? But she didn't have any proper concrete evidence yet. All she had was something that could turn out to be a horrifically strange coincidence and nothing more.

She blinked as she became aware members of the group were slowly standing up and collecting their things. It was time to go home. Lauren got up and walked over to her bag. She was in a world of her own when a hand landing on her shoulder jolted her back. She was greeted by a startled Joe as she jumped and turned around.

'J-Joe.'

She tried to keep eye contact with him as he gazed her but she failed miserably and ended up taking a very over the top interest in her jumper sleeve.

'Penny for your thoughts?'

* * *

Joe watched as her expression became confused. He knew something was wrong. She'd been so quiet all day. She'd gotten though all her scene perfectly as she always did but between scenes she had just sat off to the side on her own. He had even watched as she snapped at Jim for the way he picked her up which was so unlike her.

'There's nothing, I'm fine.'

'Did you know, I'm fine is the most common lie in the world?'

He watched as she opened and closes her mouth a few times. He'd stumped her. However his heart sank a little as her expression turned to anger.

'Oh so you're calling me a liar now? What were you, if not a liar when you said to Brian that the girl you hooked up with was a butterface?'

Joe was stunned into silence. She'd heard. He'd said it as a joke to make sure none of their friends made the connection that he and Lauren had been together that night. He looked around the room; the few remaining people were lingering by the doorway talking. He and Lauren were alone of their side of the room.

'Lo, I didn't mean that.'

'But you still said it.'

And with that she pushed past him and walked out of the room. His eyes watched her until she disappeared down the stairs.

'Hey Joe, you coming for some beers?'

Joe turned to look at Dylan, who was looking at him expectantly. What he really wanted to do was run after Lauren and beg for her forgiveness. All he wanted to do was tell her he loved her. For them not to be drunk, for it to be real and not just spur of the moment. But he couldn't see what good that would do now.

'Nah, I'm beat. I'm just gonna head home and get some sleep.'

Dylan nodded and left along with the last few people, leaving Joe alone in the room. He sighed wearily before slowly leaving the room.

* * *

Lauren trudged along the street towards the bus stop. She shouldn't have said that to Joe. She knew he hadn't really meant it but it had still upset her. He knew how self-conscious she was. She sighed loudly and pulled out her cell as it buzzed

*Text from Julia*

Hey girl, sorry we left without you but I saw you talking to Joe so I quickly pushed the girls out before they saw. Is everything okay between you and him? Xx

*Reply from Lauren*

Hi, and I don't mind and if by okay you meaning ruining any small chance I ever had to ever make it work than yeah things are great. X

*Text from Julia*

Oh sweetie, I know you said you were tired but come and join us, it doesn't feel the same without having all four Glow* Girls here, this is a Glow* meeting after all. Xx

Lauren read the message and sighed. A night in with the girls did sound like what she needed right now but she really just wanted to be alone. She looked back the way she had come as she heard people up the street. She recognised her friends and waved to them before watching them walk away. Then her breathing quickened as she saw Joe come out of the door, he hadn't seemed to have noticed her as he had his head down. In that second she made up her mind and looked back at her cell.

*Reply from Lauren*

I'm on my way. X

She crossed over the street and waited at the bus stop for buses headed towards Jaime's apartment. She watched as across the street Joe walked along. She wondered what he was thinking; she'd been harsh on him. As if he could hear her thoughts he suddenly looked up at her.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an age. Lauren was too far away to see the expression on his face but she was sure he wasn't smiling. She broke their stare as she noticed the bus coming down the street out of the corner of her eye. She moved to the edge of the sidewalk as the bus slowed to the stop in front her. Just before she got on she glanced back across the street but Joe had gone. As she took an empty seat she felt a little queasy. Their friendship was already pretty strained. What state would it be in if she was in fact pregnant? She rested her head against the window. No. She refused to think like that until she knew for sure. She hoped the next few weeks would fly by.

* * *

_A/N: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! And please review : )_


	7. Testing

_A/N: Okay so here's the next chapter! I really am happy people like it!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Awwww! Hugs! You do not know how much your review means to me :')_

_Sami-sam99: Thanks! Hope you like this chapter!_

_TearsOfaClown: Aww! Let me hug you! It took me a while to write it, I ended up just shouting at myself 'It's key to the story! Do it!' XD and hmmm is she or is she not? Hahah :D_

_Guest: Aww yay! Well I update every other day :') and I'm glad I made your day better! I hope you like this chapter!_

_Guest: Argh! I just updated! Hope you like it! :')_

* * *

Lauren stopped outside the door of Jaime's apartment. She leant against the wall and took a few deep breaths. She could do this. She was an actor. All she had to do was act and she'd get through this and they wouldn't think anything was wrong. She blinked as she heard noise coming from within Jaime's apartment. How long had she been stood outside? She moved to stand in front of the door as she heard Jaime speaking from right behind the door.

'Where is she? I buzzed her in like ten minutes ago.'

Lauren smiled as Jaime opened the door. She held her smile as Jaime's expression turned to shock but then quickly turned into a smile.

'Oh, she's here.'

'Hey Jaime.'

She quickly slipped past Jaime and into the apartment. Following the sounds of talking she found Denise and Julia in the sitting room. She dumped her bag on the floor and slumped onto the sofa. She was so tired all of a sudden, it had been such a long day.

'Do you want something to drink Lo?'

'Just water please.'

'You're not pregnant are you?'

She looked around as Denise spoke. Lauren's stomach dropped a little as she saw Julia and Denise were holding wine glasses. Although she was still refusing to believe she was pregnant one thing she was sure was you weren't supposed to drink whilst pregnant. She knew she had to say something as the silence was quickly becoming awkward. However she was saved by Jaime.

'Don't be stupid Deeds, just because we're not all alcoholics like you.'

Lauren joined in as the girls giggled. She silently breathed a sigh a relief as Jaime went to get her water. That had been close. She curled her legs up onto the sofa and tried to concentrate on the conversation Denise and Julia were having. Lauren laughed as she realised they were arguing over which film to put on. She accepted her water as Jaime came back in and sat next to her. They both watched amused as Denise and Julia's argument continued. It seemed they had narrowed down the options to 'Bridesmaids' and 'Sex and the City' and it was also clear that Jaime and Lauren were going to get no say in what film they were going to spend the night watching. She took a deep breath and tried to relax.

She mentally counted off a day on the calendar in her head.

* * *

Three weeks had passed and it was finally time. The musical opened in two days and she had to know before they started. She got ready quickly and ran out of the apartment before Julia was awake. The street outside was still quiet as she walked quickly along it. The pharmacy was about two blocks away but she made the trip in record time. The sensor bell rang as she pushed open the door.

The cashier looked up at her and nodded as she entered. She smiled slightly before walking down the closest aisle. Her eyes scanned the shelves until up ahead she saw the little sign above the last part of the shelf. 'Pregnancy Tests.' She took a deep breath as she slowly came to a stop in front of them. There were so many different ones she didn't know where to start. There were ones that just told you, you were pregnant, there were ones that told you how far along you were. Well she already knew that. 'Well if in doubt go for the mid-priced one.' She thought to herself and lifted up her hand to the shelf but she couldn't bring herself to pick the rectangle box up. As someone pushed past her to get down the aisle she took a deep breath. Putting it off would only make things harder, at least she would know for sure and so with another deep breath she picked up a box and took it to the cash register.

She didn't look at the cashier as he scanned the box. However her cheeks still blushed as she felt his eyes on her and she willed him not to say anything. He told her what she owed and she quickly paid and left the store. Once outside she shoved the box into her bag and walked back towards her apartment. She hoped Julia wasn't awake yet. Everything had almost come out yesterday morning when Julia had found her knelt over the toilet throwing up her stomach. How much longer would she believe the old 'it was something I ate' line? She finally made it back to her building and went up to her floor.

She let herself in as quietly as possible into the apartment but stopped dead as she heard movement behind her. It took her a moment but at last she turned round to find her roommate stood in the living room doorway.

'Where have you been so early?'

'Oh I just went for a walk, I've been so bogged down with learning lines I needed to clear my head.'

Lauren was filled with guilt as she saw her friend think over her answer before nodding and smiling. She hated lying to her best friend, it was so unlike her and Lauren hated how convincing she was. She smiled until Julia went back into the living room and then almost ran to her room. As she pulled out the box she swallowed. Her hands were shaking as she opened the box and read the instructions. It would take three minutes for the result. Three minutes and she'd know. She walked back out into the hallway carrying the test and stopped. Drifting in from the living room was the sound of the morning news.

'I'm going in the bathroom.'

'Cool, don't be long we've got a dress and tech today.'

Lauren sighed, today was going to be so tiring. Both psychically and mentally. The rehearsals were running late tonight so she'd around everyone for hours and she didn't know if she could keep a smile on her face. Once she was in the bathroom she closed and locked the door. For a moment she looked around the room as if, if she looked around hard enough everything would disappear and everything would be as it was but nothing happened. She sighed and looked down at the pregnancy test in her hand. Three minutes. She took a deep breath.

She had never noticed just how long three minutes lasted. She had started off sat on the closed toilet but after a minute had ended up pacing up and down the small space. She had placed the test on the side of the sink and forced herself not to pick it up. Finally she looked up at the clock and stopped. Three minutes. Where she had stopped she was facing away from the sink so she slowly turned around to look at the test. The instructions said one line in the test window meant negative and two meant positive. Her hand was shaking as she slowly picked it up. At the last second she closed her eyes. She mentally shook herself and slowly opened her eyes. Looking back at her was a test with two clear pink lines. She was pregnant.

* * *

_A/N: OMG well I hope you liked that chapter, and would you guys like me to write a separate one shot of Lauren being with the girls? I didn't include it as it's not really key to the story but if you guys want it I'll write it :D_


	8. Emotions

_A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter because here's the next one!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Aww thank you! *hugs!* And cool! I shall try and get the one shot up tomorrow :D_

_Sami-sam99: Haha :')_

_Obsessed31: Yay! Thank you! I hope you like this chapter!_

_1katiemariee: Epp! Thanks! And my mum probably thinks I'm crazy because as she's a Midwife I've been slipping in questions about early pregnancy into our conversations so I can make it more realistic XD and aww! :') thank you and I hope you like this chapter!_

_Guest: Yay! And I'm excited to update later chapters!_

_Guest: Thank you!_

_I do not own the characters; they are based on real people. Any relationships implied are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying they are real._

_Any similarity to any other story is coincidental and was unintended._

_I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

* * *

Lauren dropped the test and stumbled backwards. No. The test had to be wrong. She slumped against the wall and sank down to the floor. She slowly placed her hands on her abdomen as if she expected to feel something, but knew that was impossible at just over 5 weeks. She couldn't have a baby, she wasn't ready. Lauren buried her head in her hands as she felt tears rolling down her face. Somehow the test had to be faulty. This couldn't be happening. Her breath caught and she coughed out a small sob.

'Lo, what are you doing? We need to leave soon.'

She jumped as Julia knocked on the door. Lauren quickly dried her eyes and stood up. She couldn't let this stop her; her friends were relying on her and needed her.

'I'll be right out.'

Lauren quickly got up and turned on the shower. When she had finished she wrapped a towel around herself and picked up the test. It was still showing two pink lines, but the hot air of the shower had cleared her head. This wasn't the end, and besides she had nearly another 8 months to figure something out. But what would her friends say? They'd probably say she'd been stupid. What would Joe say? Her stomach dropped, she couldn't tell him. Her head clouded again and she began questioning everything again. The test couldn't be right and if she told him there was chance, when it came out she wasn't pregnant she'd never be able to face him again. As she looked at the test she couldn't believe she was still trying to kid herself it wasn't true. But she was hopelessly clinging to the belief that somehow, this test was faulty and two lines had appeared by accident. She'd buy another test as then she'd be twice as sure. She carried the test back into her room and hid it under her bed.

Lauren and Julia made it to the theatre with a few minutes to spare. Lauren threw her back down onto the front row of seats and sat down next to it. Doing this dress and tech was the last thing she wanted to be doing right now. She just wanted to be alone. Being here she had to pretend to be happy and like everything was all right when it wasn't. She flicked aimlessly through her phone but looked up as Brian and Meredith sat next to her.

'Hey Lo.'

She smiled a greeting but then stopped. Suddenly a funny smell was filling the air. It was turning her stomach and she felt like she was going to be sick.

'What is that smell?'

'Probably Brian's aftershave, he always puts too much on.'

Lauren nodded but in the next second she was running. She didn't see who she pushed past in her haste to get to the restroom. She banged open the stall door and just made it before she threw up. After a few moments she finally lent against the stall wall. So this was morning sickness, and she hated that the rumours it could strike anytime were true. She took a breath, slowly stood up and flushed the toilet. She looked at herself in the mirror. She looked so tired, there were black circles under her eyes and her face was pale. Lauren patted at her hair slightly before leaving the room.

* * *

Joe nearly lost his balance as Lauren came out of the restroom and bumped into him. She seemed so surprised to see him but Joe noticed something else flash in her large brown eyes but he couldn't decide what it was. He didn't know what to say to her. They'd barely spoken since that rehearsal she had told him she'd heard what he had said. His mind raced through things to say as he saw her eyes drifting down to the ground. He looked over her shoulder as Jaime appeared in the corridor.

'We're doing some warm up games before the first run through if you wanna join.'

His heart sunk as the moment Jaime had started talking Lauren had turned and almost run away. That had been one of the worse awkward silences he had ever experienced but he couldn't help but think she was running away from him. Joe looked up as he realised Jaime was staring at him. He smiled at her and nodded before following her back towards the stage.

Joe joined the circle that had formed on the stage and looked around. Lauren was on the other side of the circle. She seemed to be in a world of her own and was absentmindedly picking at her nails as she waited for the game to start. He'd known for the past few weeks that something was wrong but he hadn't know how to bring it up. She'd been so irritable recently; she was like a different person. As the game started Joe finally looked away from her but he was so deep in thought he couldn't concentrate.

Lauren sighed as they finally finished the warm ups. She felt so disconnected from everyone, they were all so excited about the musical but she wasn't. For her it just meant days and days of pretending to be her happy normal self when she really didn't want to be. She followed the group as they went to get into costume. It just all seemed so pointless. Lauren was so deep in her thoughts that she wasn't looking where she was going and before she knew it she had tripped over Jaime's shoes that had been left in the middle of the room.

'Jaime! For God's sake, is it too hard to put your shoes under the table like everyone else?'

She looked around as the dressing room became silent and everyone turned to stare at her. Jaime, who her outburst had been directed at, seemed too shocked to move. Lauren didn't know why but she felt so angry.

'We have a rule that all shoes go under the table.'

* * *

Julia couldn't believe the massive over reaction Lauren was having. Yeah they had the rule but that was only to keep the dressing room tidy once they were all in costume. She turned to look at Jaime and her heart sank. Poor Jaime. She was just opening and closing her mouth and clearly crumbling under Lauren's glare. Julia decided she had to take control of the situation.

'It's no big deal Lo, we can just move them now.'

However as she spoke she noticed something change in Lauren. It was like a bubble bursting. Suddenly Lauren's eyes were filling with tears and she was crying. Julia turned to look around her. Denise had stopped halfway through brushing her hair and seemed very confused, Jaime's eyes had grown even wider and it was very clear she had no idea what to do. Julia took a breath and slowly walked towards Lauren. She gentle pulled her into a hug.

'What's up?

'We have the rule about the shoes.'

So she really was crying over the shoes. Julia sighed, they were all tired and others had already bickered over stupid things but Lauren was the first to cry. They'd all been under a lot of pressure and sometimes tears helped so Julia pulled Lauren into a tighter hug and waited it out.

Lauren buried her head deeper in Julia's shoulder. She was crying over the stupid shoes, although she didn't know why, but as the tears went on Lauren knew she was crying about more than where Jaime had left her shoes.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so there probably won't be an update on Monday, as I'm going on a school trip to London and we get back really late but I will try my hardest to get it up on Tuesday!_


	9. It All Comes Out

_A/N: Hi! Okay so I'm super sorry I missed Monday but to make up for it this is an extra-long chapter! :D Thank you to everyone who has read up to now!_

_1katiemariee: Bahahaha I think so was a little worried so I was like 'it's for a fanfic!' XD and I hope you have a good time (well by the time you read this, had a good time XD)_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Aww I'm sorry! Hugs! :') trust me it's not all going to be sad!_

_Guest: Thank you!_

_Guest: Aww :') well here it is!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on real people. All relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Any similarities to any other story are coincidental and were unintended._

* * *

Lauren opened her eyes but didn't move. Today was the day, opening night. The past couple of days had been terrible. She was pretty sure she'd shouted at everyone and had even been sent home early yesterday after Meredith had caught her throwing up in the restroom again. She sighed and slowly poked her abdomen.

'This is all your fault.'

Oddly it didn't feel strange talking to herself anymore as she had to admit she wasn't really alone. When she'd been sent home early yesterday she had bought another pregnancy test and there were now two positive tests hidden under her bed. She'd realised then that this wasn't a dream. She was going to have a baby. The thought both terrified and kind of excited her. Now she was doubly sure she knew she had to tell Joe, but today was going to so busy, she knew it would be hard to get a moment alone with him but he had to know. She slowly got out of bed and stretched.

Joe pulled open the stage door and felt like he was stepping into complete chaos. He had to flatten himself against the wall as June came past him pulling a rack of costumes with her. As he walked further down the corridor he past bits of set and props, propped against the wall. Joe felt the first sparks of excitement beginning inside him. He smiled to himself as he went into the dressing room.

There was an excited hum in the air as he found a safe place for his bag. He shared big grins with anyone he saw. People were almost jumping with excitement and it was rubbing off on Joe too. However there was something eating at the back of his mind. Lauren. She had been sent home yesterday after Meredith had found her and what worried him more was that Lauren had refused to tell anyone what was wrong. It felt like she was hiding something, from all of them.

He was so deep in thought that as he left the dressing room he didn't notice Lauren and Julia until he collided into them.

'Sorry.'

'No worries!'

He smiled as Julia cheerily spoke but this smiled faltered as he turned to look at Lauren. She was staring at him as if she'd seen a ghost.

'You okay Lo? After yesterday?'

He watched as she opened and closed her mouth and her eyes darted around.

'It was nothing, I'm fine.'

'Throwing up isn't nothing.'

'Just drop it!'

She stormed past him and into the dressing room. Joe stared after her in shock. What had he done to deserve that? He slowly looked back at Julia; she was looking back at him and looked so apologetic.

'I'm sorry Joe, it's not just you.'

Before Joe could ask what Julia meant she scrambled into the dressing room after Lauren, leaving him alone in the corridor. He slowly walked down towards the doors to the wings. They'd said they'd still be friends but that hadn't happened and it saddened him that it felt like he was losing her as a friend all together.

* * *

Lauren put her bag down and closed her eyes. She could sense Julia behind her but didn't want to look at her. Instead she pretended to take a great interest in one of the chairs facing the make-up table. Finally she looked around as Julia coughed.

'What was that about?'

'I don't know.'

She wanted to tell Julia everything but a part of her knew she had to tell Joe first and so far today she had just blown her first chance to tell him. She sighed and excused herself from the dressing room. The corridors were alive with noise and excited people, as she walked she kept her head down. After a few minutes walking she found herself stood in the foyer of the theatre. The merch guys had just arrived and were unloading boxes and beginning to set up their stall. She smiled, waved at them and seeing there will still boxes to bring in she stopped and helped bring the last few in. The task took her mind of everything and she felt calm once again. She finally started to become excited for the show.

* * *

The show was now full under way. Joe was stood watching in the wings; Jaime was doing them all proud as always by singing her solo song. However as the wing door was opened by Denise coming in he saw Lauren walking past, he quickly squeezed around Denise and went out into the corridor.

'Lauren?'

She looked around at him and Joe tried not the think about the shocked expression she gave him.

'I just wanted to ask if we're sticking with dropping that line?'

'What line?'

'The one you always get the words muddled up.'

'Well that's not my fault.'

There had been such venom behind that sentence that for a moment Joe was taken aback. He couldn't understand why she was being so hot headed but he felt his own mind clouding with anger as she glared at him. What could he have possibly done to earn a look like that?

'Lauren, I don't know what's wrong as you seem to refusing to tell anyone but nothing's been the same since that night and I don't know what happened but don't take it out on me without telling me what I've done.'

He hadn't meant to raise his voice and it shocked him as he saw tears in her eyes. He moved towards her but she quickly moved away.

'Lo, please tell me what's wrong.'

'I'm pregnant!'

Joe's mind went blank as she whispered the words. Lauren seemed horrified and her hands flew to her mouth as if she wanted to take the words back. Before he could say anything to her she had turned tail and he watched as she sprinted away down the corridor. He wanted to go after her but then the door to the stage opened behind him.

'Joe, your cue is coming up.'

He looked over his shoulder as Denise popped her head around the door, with the door open her could head Jaime was reaching the last few lines of her song. He looked after Lauren but she had gone, before he could think of going after her he could hear the applause and then Jaime was running past him back to the dressing room for her costume change. He walked onstage; he couldn't even remember what his lines were. He was vaguely aware the scene went somewhere along the lines of Meredith and Jeff finding their way into his hideout on their quest to save the world. But he couldn't think straight, Lauren had just told him she was pregnant, with his child. What did this mean? For them? For everything? He knew he was meant to be saying a line right now and tried his hardest to remember it.

'My totally awesome plan to lure those kids here is going so well.'

He'd heard the cheer from the audience as he'd used the AVPM quote, out of the corner of his eye he saw Matt who was acting as line prompter glare at him as he basically made his line up on the spot. He was saved by the ever ready Meredith who began creeping onstage pulling a slightly confused Jeff with her. The lights quickly deemed and Joe knew this was his cue to hide, ready to jump out.

'Gee Jeremy where do you think we are?'

'Oh I don't know Flo but it sure is dark!'

Joe knew as the lights came up he was meant to jump up and scare them but the stage flood also lit the wings and he found himself staring straight at Lauren. How had she ended up in the wings? He'd just seen her running away. Her eyes were wide and she was staring at him in shock. He watched as she looked to her left and whispered something to someone but all he could see was her. She couldn't really be pregnant could she?

'IT SURE IS DARK!'

He could hear a voice but it seemed a long way away. Joe found his eyes wondering down to her abdomen. Did he expect to see anything so soon? Suddenly Lauren was blocked from his vision as a very angry looking Denise stood in front of her and began gesturing frantically at the stage. Her sudden movement shocked his brain back into reality and he jumped up and spun around to face Meredith and Jeff who both did an over the top jump.

'Argh!'

Joe tried to relax, acting was what he loved, what he was good at, he could do this. He smiled an evil smile at them and laughed.

'You thought it would be easy to save the world? You're nothing more than children!'

Behind Jeff and Meredith he saw Matt breathe a sigh of relief as Joe got through his line word for word.

'We've been sent on a quest by the Fairy Queen.'

'Yeah she said it was our destiny.'

'Well the Fairy Queen is stupid! Just look who she sent to save the world. Children!'

'Just because we all know she's cooler than you.'

Joe, Meredith and Jeff turned to look as Denise, dressed as a fairy danced onstage. Joe found himself relaxing as he got into the scene. He laughed and folded his arms as he followed Denise around the stage.

'What do you want to overgrown fruit fly?'

He stayed still as Denise gasped and walked up before fake slapping him across the face.

'It's comments like that, which make everyone hate you. I'm here to deliver a message to you from the Fairy Queen.'

Denise cleared her throat but then the recording kicked it. It was Lauren, he shouldn't have been surprised as she was playing the Fairy Queen but the whole scene seemed to shatter before his eyes. He listened in a daze to her voice; she was speaking in a British accent, not like her Malfoy voice but a high pitched soft voice. It floated around him and filled his head until it was all he could think.

He was vaguely aware that Denise was speaking again and then watched through blurred eyes as she danced off the stage. He slowly turned to look at Jeff and Meredith; they were staring back at him. Meredith raised her eyebrows slightly. He looked stage right to where Lauren had been stood but she wasn't there anymore, she had been replaced by Brian who was staring at him in shock. Joe looked away as Brian raised his shoulders and mouthed 'Dude?' Joe swallowed slightly and looked around the stage as if seeing it for the first time. The growing silence was fast becoming uncomfortable.

He noticed a waving stage left and saw Matt pointing at the script and then up to his mouth. Joe realised they thought he was having a freeze and couldn't remember his line. Behind Matt he noticed Denise and Jaime; they were staring at him too. Everyone was staring at him.

'That stupid…'

He just about heard Matt whisper the prompt but it didn't do anything to help Joe. All he could think about was Lauren but he was quickly breaking out into a cold sweat. His mind seemed to be at war with itself, part of it was repeating over and over 'There's been a mistake' but then another part was thinking of the sharp pain he'd felt that night as her fingers had dug into his shoulders and the shivers he'd felt as she'd planted soft kisses up his jawline and nibbled his ear. He had never thought about the possible outcome of those actions. He wasn't ready for this; he doubted she was ready for this. Why had she had to tell him now, if she had just waited.

'Erm, don't you think now that Willow the fairy has left you should tie us up to stop us from saving the world?'

He turned to look at Meredith as she spoke but it was like he couldn't see her. There was a loud buzzing in his ears and a thick fog was swirling around his head.

'Erm…er.'

And then suddenly he was running. Brian tried to stop him but he pushed past him and ran out of the theatre wings. The backstage area of the theatre was a maze of corridors but it didn't matter where he was going. He just had to get away from here.

* * *

Lauren was sat in the dressing room staring into the vanity mirror. She knew she'd made the wrong choice by telling him but she had had to tell someone or she would have exploded with emotion. When she had realised her mistake she had run back and gone into the wings to make sure he was okay, he had seemed shaken but then it appeared he'd settled into his scene so she had left. She was suddenly aware of shouts and running footsteps outside in the corridor. 'What are they doing? The audience will hear.' She thought as she stood up and marched over to the door, opening it just as Jeff bolted past her. Lauren turned to look at Jaime who came to a stop in front of the door. It unnerved Lauren that Jaime was continuing to look down the corridor after Jeff and looked worried. What had happened after Lauren had left the wings?

'Jaime what's going on?'

'Walker's bolted.'

'What?'

'He froze and then just ran. Sorry Lo but I should see if he's okay.'

Lauren watched as Jaime walked quickly down the corridor. She slowly edged out of the door and walked back towards the stage. What had she done? She'd been so stupid. If she'd just kept her big mouth shut until after the show. The musical had obviously come to a complete stop as most of the cast seemed to be milling around backstage all seeming very confused. Lauren passed Denise and Meredith who both smiled at her quickly but seemed preoccupied with seeing if Joe was okay. They were all going to hate her.

She reached the door to stage right. Unusually it had been left propped open. Lauren stopped next to Julia who was stood leaning against the doorway. They moved to the side as the band slowly came out into the corridor. They all looked confused but all turned to listen as they heard the Lang brothers onstage.

'Hey guys we apologise for the unexpected interruption but when you're live these things happen. Now we're just going to take a short intermission and see if we can't tempt Joe back onstage.'

Lauren heard the audience laugh and then the house lights were turned on. Matt and Nick came through the door and then the doors to the wings were closed. Slowly Lauren looked down the corridor in the direction everyone had headed.

* * *

They had managed to convince Joe to stay in the building and were now all stood around him as he crouched on the floor with his head in his hands. Jaime looked down at her friend; she didn't know what to say. They didn't even know what was wrong. At first Brian had knelt down next to him but Joe had roughly pushed him away. She watched as Denise crouched down in front of Joe. This was such a surreal scene. Denise was in her fairy costume, her large wings had hit them all more than once. Jeff and Meredith looked like oversized children in their brightly coloured clothes. Brian who still had a few scenes to go before his scene was in the grey jump suit he wore under his suit of armour. Joe had on his black 'evil villain' suit. Jaime looked down at herself; she was also dressed as a fairy. Their faces were covered in the large amount of makeup needed for being under the theatre lights; it didn't suit their serious faces.

'Joe.'

The sound of Denise soft voice seemed to set something off in Joe and Jaime watched as he pulled at his hair and muttered 'No' over and over. Her attention turned to Denise as she heard her sigh angrily.

'What the fuck Joe? You froze no big deal it happens to all of us.'

Suddenly Joe was laughing. Jaime glanced round at the others as his laughter filled the corridor. It was a sad laugh but it wasn't stopping, it was only growing louder.

Denise's slap echoed through the corridor. Jaime squeaked in shock but couldn't find her voice to say anything. All she could do was watch as Joe stared at Denise before griping her wrist tightly. Jaime moved to help her friend as she saw Denise wince.

'Back off Joe.'

He looked at Jaime for a moment before releasing Denise's wrist, Jaime helped her stand.

'You think I wanted to freeze up. You try carrying on with a show when one of your best friends tells you right before you go on that she's pregnant and it's yours and see if you don't freeze!'

With this Joe put his head in his hands again. Jaime couldn't think straight, one of his best friends? Being in the same friendship group there was a big possibility it was one of her best friends. She exchanged glances with the others; they all seemed as shocked as she was.

'But there was only you and Denise in that wing.'

Everyone turned to Meredith as she spoke. Jaime watched as everyone slowly looked at Denise. Then Jaime remembered something, she remembered how when she had come off stage from her song she had passed Joe in the doorway and he looked like he was staring down the corridor after someone, she had thought it odd that she was there but the thought had quickly left her mind. However now it came crashing back, she turned to Denise who seemed too shocked by the thought that everyone thought she was pregnant to actually form a sentence in her defence.

'Denise, did you see who Joe was talking to in the corridor?'

'Well, I'd been talking to Lauren right before I went in and I'm sure I heard him call after her.'

Denise's eyes widened as realisation filled the, and then as if the answer wasn't already clear enough Joe pulled at his hair at the sound of Lauren's name. Jaime looked round at the others and saw their expressions change as they realised who Joe had been talking about. Taking a breath she slowly knelt down next to Joe.

'Joe, what exactly did Lauren say to you?'

Joe slowly met her eyes. She'd never seen him like this before, he looked so scared.

'Why don't you go and ask her yourself?'

Jaime looked up at Denise as Joe looked away from her again. Denise nodded at her as they silently agreed to go and find Lauren. Jaime stood back up and they were off down the corridor. They had to speak to Lauren before she could bolt and do something stupid, the fact she'd chosen the worst possible time to tell Joe showed she wasn't really in a fit state. Jaime hadn't even stopped to think about what Lauren being pregnant meant. And the fact that Joe was the father. She realised now who Lauren's mysterious one night stand must have been. They had always been close but the whole group was close and yeah some of them had dated before and Meredith and Brian were dating now but Lauren and Joe had always been friends. Lauren had once drunkenly told her she had a crush on Joe but Jaime hadn't really thought about it after that. They were almost back at the wing doors when she saw Lauren talking to Julia.

'Lauren!'

* * *

Lauren turned and looked down the corridor but quickly walking in the other direction as she saw Jaime and Denise walking towards her. They knew, they had to know or how else would they know to come and find her. She picked up speed as she heard them stop and speak to Julia. What would Julia say? Lauren had trusted her enough to tell her she'd had sex with Joe but she'd kept this aftermath from her. Lauren hadn't been looking where she was going and started to panic as she reached a dead end. She kept looking at the wall as she heard the three girls stop behind her.

'Lolo?'

That was Julia, she sounded worried. Lauren's heart was beating fast. She was just over a month but her abdomen felt heavy and she clutched at it with her hand. She sniffed loudly and suddenly realised she was crying. Within seconds she felt three pairs of arms around her and as one they sank to the floor. With all their arms around her she didn't try and stop her tears. She was so scared. She still had days where she spent all day in her pyjamas but in a few months there'd be a tiny person who needed her attention. She already knew for sure she wanted to keep it, no matter what that would mean.

'How sure are you?'

Jaime's voice was nothing more than a whisper. Lauren slowly lifted her head up from the hug and found she was near enough face to face with Jaime. Her blue eyes were wide and looked worried.

'Two pregnancy tests sure.'

Lauren looked round as she heard Denise whistle. Denise gave her a slight smile and rubbed her arm. Lauren smiled back at her; it had been silly of her to think they would disapprove of her. They were her friends and would support her all the way. They all turned around as Joey fell round the corner and took in the scene before him.

'Guys! What's going on? Matt just said we're ending the show early and sending the audience home.'

'What?'

The four girls all spoke at once and seemed to scare Joey slightly.

'Well you're down here with a crying Lauren and then down there there's people consoling a sobbing Walker so I think everyone's forgotten about the musical. What's happened?'

The last time she'd seen Joey he'd been going into the restroom to run his lines, he'd probably missed all the drama and come out to find a paused show with the backstage in chaos. Her breath caught in throat. Joe was sobbing? She knew he was probably in shock but it panicked her slightly that he was crying at the fact she'd been the one he'd had to go get pregnant. Lauren swallowed and looked up at Joey.

'Joey, I think Joe is in shock because I picked a pretty bad time to tell him that I'm pregnant, with his child.'

As she saw his eyes widen she knew that if she'd told him that the reason Joe was upset was because his pet dragon had run away, Joey would have probably believed her more.

'Oh.'

'Well life's no fun without a little drama.'

She laughed at how cheesy that sounded but it made Joey relax a little. He walked over to them and was quickly folded into their hug. No one said anything; they all just held each other as if they were thinking what she was thinking. Everything was going to change now. It could rip them apart if they let it. Her life would never be the same but would Joe be there to help her through it? She didn't know how long they all just sat there but eventually Nick peeped his head around the corner.

'Erm, the audience is gone; we're calling a cast meeting in 15 minutes. Get back into your own clothes first.'

They all nodded and he walked away. Slowly the five untangled their limbs and all stood up. Lauren felt so tired. She couldn't have thought of a worst way for all of her friends to find out but at least they knew now. What she really needed to do now was talk to Joe. They all quietly walked back towards the dressing room.

* * *

Joe took off his costume and hung it up on the hanger. A baby. She was having a baby. No. They were having a baby. The odd times Joe had thought about the future and settling down, he'd always gone all movie style and had imagined he'd get married first and have a house and then a baby would come. Never did he picture it happening like this. But was this a bad thing? Joe finally admitted to himself that he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Lauren since that night. He loved her. And he held on to the memory that in the elevator she had said she loved him. But he was worried. A baby meant they'd be thrown together without knowing each other as more than friends. He knew he should be there for her but right now he needed to clear his head. He quickly pulled on his regular clothes and looked around, everyone around him seemed very subdued and no one was speaking. Joe quickly slipped out of the room.

The corridor was mostly empty what with all the cast being in the dressing rooms. He didn't pass anyone as he walked and in no time he had reached the stage door. His hand was ready to pull down the handle when he heard her small, confused voice.

'Joe?'

He slowly turned round and was greeted by the little brunette. She was stood halfway up the corridor, her eyes shimmering with tears. He could hear the door handle rattling and realised his hand was shaking. It ripped out his heart as he saw tears falling down her face but he knew he couldn't stay here.

'Please Joe.'

'I'm sorry Lo, I'll-I'll call you.'

And with that he slipped out of the door into the night air. He didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't stay here. Not even bothering to check the street was clear he dashed across to his car and got in, and in the next minute he was speeding away.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so you might have found this chapter pretty sad but trust me! We are going through the sad bit right now but it's only for now :')_


	10. What to do now

_A/N: Hello guys! Sorry if you found the last update a little upsetting and sorry this chapter isn't as long as the last but I'm back at school now and it's a lot of writing! XD_

_Sami-sam99: I know! :'( and thank you!_

_Obsessed31: Hahaha XD and here it is! Yay!_

_1katiemariee: Haha XD and ahh okay :') and same! Haha even though I'm writing it I'm still like DON'T CRY! XD_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Awwww! Thank you :') and this is a little shorter XD but it's because it's one of the few updates that I wrote completely today as I've kind of become obsessed with ideas for later chapters XD_

_TearsOfaClown: FEELS! Hahaha this chapter is kind of feels again haha :')_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships implied at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Any similarities to any other stories are coincidental and were unintended._

* * *

Lauren's legs felt weak as she stared at the door Joe had just gone through and before she knew it she was sliding down the wall, unable to stand anymore. He had gone. She had told him and he had run. She held her head in her hands and sobbed. There were sounds of footsteps coming towards her and then a banging door but all she could do was slide the entire way down the wall and curled up in a ball. It felt like her mind was breaking apart and she couldn't pull it back together.

'Joe's gone.'

It wasn't a question, it was a statement but hearing it out loud made Lauren cry harder. She felt arms around her but pulled herself into a tighter ball. She wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

* * *

Jaime stood staring at the scene before her. She looked up as Brian came back in through the stage door. As he shook his head, she closed her eyes. Joe really was gone. She opened her eyes again and watched as Julia tried to get Lauren to look at her but Lauren was too far gone, she'd stopped crying but now she was just curled up in a ball facing away from them. It upset Jaime that she had no idea how to help, looking around she saw everyone felt the same way. How could Joe have done this?

* * *

Julia finally managed to pull Lauren up into a sitting position but her head lolled to the side and her eyes were wide and vacant. It was like she'd been shocked into silence.

'Lauren, look at me.'

Julia held Lauren's face up straight. There were still tears rolling down it and her brown eyes were staring into space. Finally, she looked at her. It shocked Julia how broken she looked, Joe had broken her heart.

'Do you wanna go home?'

As Lauren nodded, Julia pulled her into a tight hug, she could feel her trembling. After a moment Julia helped her to her feet. Everyone parted for them as they walked back towards the dressing room. As they came closer Jaime disappeared and came back with Lauren's coat and bag. Julia took them and put Lauren's coat on for her, she didn't think she was capable of doing it at herself at this moment in time. As she did it Lauren just stared into space seemingly oblivious to the world around her. Finally Julia pulled on her own coat and saw everyone else was doing the same.

'We'll all come with you.'

Julia smiled as everyone nodded in agreement. They were sticking together as always, except there was no one of them missing. She tried not to think about that as she followed the others out and lead Lauren of the stage door. They reached the street and stood in a group to flag down cabs. She changed a glance at Lauren. She was staring down the street but there was a far off, vacant look in her eyes so Julia felt she wasn't really interested in what she could see down the street. Finally a cab pulled over and she pushed Lauren in, Brian and Meredith also got in. They rode in silence but it was a horrible silence. Julia could almost hear everyone's thoughts hurtling around their heads and it was deafening. She blinked and looked to her side as she felt something on her shoulder. Lauren who was sat in the middle had rested her head against Julia's shoulder.

'Julia, I'm so tired.'

'Then go to sleep.'

And just like that she heard Lauren's breathing deepen. If it was possible Julia felt a little relived. The best thing she could really do right now was sleep, Tiredness and emotions were a bad mix. She took her friends hand and they all spent the rest of the journey in silence.

* * *

Brian waited as Julia unlocked the door before carrying Lauren into the apartment. She must be emotionally exhausted, in the past few hours everything had changed. He carried her straight through to her bedroom and laid her on the bed before stepping back so Jaime and Julia could tuck her in. Brian felt so angry. He'd thought Joe was more of a man than this. However as Lauren lay there fast asleep, her face blotchy from crying, his anger turned to sadness, she looked so innocent and Joe had just left her. He closed his eyes for a second but looked around as he felt Meredith's familiar hand slipped into his. He returned her squeeze before following her to the sitting room.

* * *

They both sat down on the floor and a few moments later Julia and Jaime came in, they had to stand as the whole cast and most of the crew were crammed into the sitting room. Meredith looked around at her friends, some were looking around like her but most were staring intently at Joey. He had been trying to get through to Joe for the past hour, without success. He had the cell on speaker phone and they had all gotten into the routine of the call going to voicemail and Joey leaving the same message, 'Joe, please pick up, we're worried about you' they all listened quietly and then at last.

'Hi Joey.'

* * *

Everyone shouted at once, shocked that they had actually gotten through to him. Joey flapped his hands to get everyone to shut up, everyone shouting could scare Joe away and this might be their only chance to speak to him.

'Joe where are you?'

'At a gas station.'

The tone of Joe's voice was scaring Joey. It sounded like all the life had been sucked out of him. Joey felt the last thing Joe needed right now was to be alone so he had to keep him talking.

'Which gas station?'

'It doesn't matter.'

Joey looked up at the others. He didn't know how to answer. They needed to get Joe back but how could they when it seemed her was refusing their help. Joey stood up as Brian held his hand out for the phone and quickly passed it to him.

'Joe, if you want we can come and meet you. You know, talk on neutral ground.'

'What point is there in talking?'

* * *

Denise pulled up her legs and rested her head on her knees as she listened. She felt trembles down her spine as she realised this sounded like Joe's final goodbye, as if he was never coming back. She knew she had to do something.

'The point in talking is the fact that in a few months Lauren is going to have this baby and she needs you to be there for her.'

She realised that as she said this, many people in the room seemed to remember that Joe hadn't just left Lauren. For the first time Denise really thought about it. Lauren was going to have a baby, they should all be happy for her but the news was overshadowed by Joe's disappearance. She felt her breath catch as she heard Joe cough out what could almost be described as a sob. The sound pulled at her heart. Why was he staying away?

'She'd better off without me.'

'No Joe, she needs you.'

'Tell her I'm so sorry.'

* * *

Joe hung up and hit his hand against the driver's wheel. He didn't try and brush away the tears that were falling down his face. He knew he should go back but he was so scared. He had never been more scared in his entire life. Noticing his hands were shaking he gripped onto the wheel until his knuckles turned white. His breathing was coming and going in ragged breaths. Why had he run? He knew he loved Lauren but it had been such a shock. He closed his eyes as he realised how selfish he was being. What must Lauren be going through? She couldn't just run away like he had, but he couldn't go back. He wanted to be there for her but he knew he wasn't in a fit state to be of any help. After a few moments breathing he started the car and pulled out of the gas station. Joe didn't know where he was going so all he did was drive.

'What do we do now?'

'What can we do? We have to be there for Lauren.'

* * *

Lauren crept down the corridor towards the sitting room door. She tried to keep quiet but her breath kept catching in her throat. From the voices floating in from the sitting room, it sounded like everyone was sat in there. She had heard most of the phone conversation they had had with Joe. As Brian had carried her in, she had woken up but had decided to keep quiet. However she had almost jumped out of bed when she had heard Joe's voice, but what he had said had caused fresh tears to fall down her face. She pulled back as she heard more voices.

'But we have to get him back, he has responsibilities.'

'We can't bring him back when we don't know where he is.'

'He's not coming back, is he?'

* * *

Everyone whipped around as Lauren spoke from the doorway. Jaime, who was stood nearest the door jumped and almost fell into Julia, she got her balance again before turning to look at her little friend. Her eyes were red and looked sore from where she had been rubbing them, however there was a determined spark in them. Jaime watched as Lauren looked at each other them, no one seemed to know how the answer because they didn't know if Joe was going to come back and what was the point in lying to Lauren and saying everything would be okay? She needed her friends to be strong, she didn't need their pity. However it seemed no one was able to actually say out loud what they were all thinking. Finally Julia took a breath and spoke.

'We don't know Lo.'

* * *

Lauren took a deep breath. She was glad Julia had been honest but it didn't make hearing the truth any easier. It felt like her stomach was churning but it wasn't brought on by the pregnancy. It was brought on by fear, she couldn't do this alone and she knew her friends would stick with her no matter what but she wanted Joe to be there too. A cough from someone brought her back into the room and she looked around at her friends, they were all staring back at her but it felt like she couldn't quite see them, there was a blurring to her vision. She did what she thought was a nod before slowly walking back to her room. From the awkward silence coming from the sitting room she knew they were waiting until they thought she was out of earshot before speaking anymore on the subject. She made it back into the darkness of her bedroom and pulled at her cell from her back. Once she had it she got back under the covers and unlocked her cell. Without thinking she sent a text to Joe.

*Text from Lauren*

I don't blame you for running away, but I will do if you don't come back.'

And with that she turned off her phone and closed her eyes. She instantly regretted sending the text, as what she had said could make him never come back but he had to know how she felt. With a deep sigh she curled up into a ball and drifted off into a troubled sleep.

* * *

_A/N: I will defiantly work on making the later chapters longer! :D_


	11. Wait It Out

_A/N: Hey guys :') thank you to everyone who has read so far! Love you guys!_

_1katiemariee: Yeah haha :') and he's just being silly and scared! And aww thank you :')_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Haha :') well keep reading as it is going to start to pick up :D_

_Guest: Well here it is! It's a bit angsty though XD_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on real people. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren walked into the kitchen and found Julia already sat at the table eating breakfast. She nodded a hello at Julia before walking over to the refrigerator and pulling out the fruit juice, she poured herself a glass before sitting down at the table.

'You look tired'

'I am.'

It took a while but Lauren finally looked at her friend. She looked concerned about her, Lauren felt embarrassed that she was causing everyone so much stress but she was glad she had them to lean on. She sighed and pulled her feet up onto the chair before flicking through the morning paper.

'Nick called and asked if you're still doing the show.'

Lauren stopped half way through reading an article on cats and looked up at Julia. The question had shocked her a little. Sure her life had been thrown a little upside down yesterday but she had to try and carry on a normal and wait for if and when Joe came back, so to her, acting in the show seemed like the best way to take her mind of her current real life situation.

'Of course I am. Why wouldn't I?'

'He just thought, given last night you'd want to stay home.'

'No I want to do it.'

She returned Julia's smiled and looked back down at the newspaper. However she could sense Julia was still watching her. She knew she probably wanted to ask about the big news they had all found out last night.

'How many weeks are you?'

'6.'

'Well I looked online and most websites say to call your doctor's officer and they'll schedule your first appointment between 8-11 weeks.'

Lauren looked up and stared at Julia. It was typical of Julia to take a mother role and organise her but it shocked her a little how calm she was being. She laughed as she saw Julia seemed to become embarrassed at what she had said.

'Sorry, I just couldn't sleep last night.'

'Don't apologise Julia, I need some organisation right now.'

* * *

Julia beamed back at her friend and watched as Lauren looked back at the newspaper. She was still getting over the shock that her best friend was pregnant but she was also feeling little tingles of excitement. Lauren was having a baby! Yeah it was unplanned but all the same in a few months' time there was going to be a little one, the first StarKid baby. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled to herself. It made her happy that Lauren didn't seem too beat up about what had happened and Julia knew she could get through this as Lauren was a strong person. Pregnancy was supposed to be a happy time for the mother and Julia was determined to make sure Lauren had the best time possible.

* * *

Lauren walked in through the stage door behind Julia and was instantly pounced on by Jaime and Denise. They hugged her tightly and then walked with her towards the dressing room. As they went in Denise squeezed her hand.

'I really commend you for doing this.'

Lauren returned her smile and gave her another hug. The next few hours past in a kind of blur. There was complete chaos as they had last minute rehearsals. Joe's sudden departure had caused a shift in the cast list so now there was a scramble to line extra lines. Brian was now playing Joe's part and literally all the boys had been recast to make the show work. Lauren sighed and took the moment to tie up her hair as she listened to Brian running through his part of the duet Lauren and him now sung. She looked off stage and saw dotted around the seats were little groups of people desperately running lines in the hope they could remember them in time.

'Lo, we're ready to run the whole thing.'

She looked up as Clark spoke and tried her best to look interested but she knew she wasn't fooling any of them. They sang the whole song, you wouldn't have been able to tell that Brian had sung the song for the first time that day but to Lauren it didn't sound the same. It had been written for Joe's voice and she could tell Brian was having some difficulty with certain notes but he really was trying hard.

* * *

Brian sighed as the song ended. He could feel the stress building up inside him, he couldn't learn all these lines by tonight and even though the offer was there to go on with scripts he didn't want to do that. He looked over at Lauren as she got a drink of water. It was so strange as she was performing the part perfectly but none of the emotions reached her eyes; it was like she had detached herself from it, which Brian guessed she probably had. She was coping well though and she was getting on with things so he couldn't fault the practises she did to achieve normalness.

'Right let's act out the song now.'

He looked over as Matt spoke before looking back at Lauren. He returned the quick smile she gave him before walking to stand on his mark. He took a breath as the music started, he could do this. He'd seen Lauren and Joe act it out dozens of times in rehearsal. As they held the last note Brian smiled, he'd done it and for the first time that day Lauren smiled and the smile reached her eyes.

'Good work B-Hol.'

He laughed at the nickname before leaving the stage and taking a seat next to Meredith. He caught the script she tossed at him and began running his new lines in his head

* * *

Lauren did a few breathing exercises. She was nervous. In five minutes they were starting the meet and greet. She'd felt more relaxed today as she hadn't had to hide anything from her friends, she'd been able to act a little down but meeting the fans was a different story. She had to be the Lauren they'd come to know. She sighed and without thinking placed a hand on her abdomen. It still shocked her a little that there was baby in there. Well shocked and excited her, she looked down at her hand.

'Lauren, I don't think you're being obvious enough, why don't you just tell them when they come up to you?'

She dropped her hand and looked up as she heard Julia speak. Lauren felt her cheeks flush red and she realised everyone was staring at her but she smiled as she saw they were all smiling at her. As the doors opened and the fans came in and queued up ready to have their pictures taken Lauren put on her best smile. She could do this and no one would suspect a thing. They made it through all the pictures and were finally making their way back to get ready for the show. It had been harder than she'd thought it would be. So many fans had asked where Joe was, the official story was that he had food poisoning so would be sitting out the rest of the shows but Lauren found it hard to keep repeating this story. The fans had been so concerned and she knew they had no reason not to but it began to reach the point where she felt herself breaking out into a cold sweat at the sound of Joe's name. More than once nausea had caused her to suddenly run from the room and into the restrooms but she made it through. She smiled to herself and began to put on her costume.

The rest of the shows past in a blur and then suddenly it was all over. They were having the cast party and Liam had begun to edit it to put on YouTube. Lauren sat cross legged on Brian's sofa, she watched as some of the others tried and mostly failed to dance the dance to Gangnam Style. She laughed as Meredith almost fell over and then proceeded to blame Joey for her lack of balance; it was safe to say that most of them were a bit tipsy by now. Lauren obviously wasn't drinking but she didn't feel left out, sometimes being the only sober one was just as fun. They continued to dance around until Jaime fell over and caused a domino effect so they all fell on top of each other. Lauren smiled and rolled her eyes before checking her phone.

It had been a week since Joe had left and still no one had heard from him. She opened up the text messages, she had managed not to send him a text message since that night but his continued communication silence was making her nervous. Next week she had her first doctor's appointment and maybe telling him would make him come back.

*Text from Lauren*

Joe, when are you coming back? I have my first doctor's appointment in a week; I'd really like you to be there.'

Her thumb hovered over the send button. She must have re-read the message 10 times before deleting it. She couldn't send it, because things would be worse for her if he never replied. She didn't think she could cope with waiting for a reply that may never come. The others had taken to not talking about Joe at all, as if they thought that would help her and for the most part she pretended it did help but she wondered where he was. It felt like such a long time ago that she had watched him walk out of the stage door. Pulling up her legs to her chest she sighed and tried to smile as the rest of the group began to drunkenly serenade her.

* * *

**2 weeks later**

Lauren was sat on the sofa, it was her day to write the post on Glow* but she couldn't think what to say, she wasn't feeling very inspiring at the moment. With a sigh she got up and paced around the sitting room. Last week she'd had her first appointment and afterwards, much to the disapproval of her friends she had called Joe. As she would have expected his cell had gone to voicemail. She had told him everything the doctor had said to her and then ended the voicemail near enough begging him to come back, and she hadn't heard anything back from him. She was giving up hope that he was ever coming back; it was three weeks since he had left. Without knowing why, she lay down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. She was coping, given the circumstances but more and more she was having near panic attacks from thinking about the next few months. She rolled onto her side and curled up into a ball. Despite everything, there was something deep inside her telling her not to give up hope that soon he would come back.

* * *

_A/N: So I kind of rushed this as I've already written the next chapter and I wanted to get to it hahaha XD_


	12. All Roads Lead Home

_A/N: Hi guys! I hope you're all okay!_

_Obsessed31: He does! Haha and here it is!_

_1katiemariee: Bahahaha XD and yay thank you! I listened to Birdy's version of Skinny Love the entire time I was writing it and that really helped with conveying the emotions :')_

_TeasOfaClown: Haha he ran because he was scared and kinda because he was being a little selfish and thinking of himself. Aww I'm sorry! *Puts heart back together* :')_

_Guest: Yay!_

_I do not own the characters, the StarKids belong to themselves. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

**1 week later**

Joe pulled into a parking bay and turned the ignition off. He took a deep breath before looking at the apartment building he was parked across from. He'd gotten Lauren's voicemail two weeks ago saying she'd been for her first doctor's appointment, which had confirmed she defiantly was pregnant but it had still taken him another two weeks to summon up the courage to come back. He never thought he'd be 'that guy' who ran away but it had all just been too much at once. He shook himself, 'it's now or never' he thought and with that he got out of the car.

He jogged across the street and made it through the gate behind an elderly couple; he followed them across the courtyard and into the building. He had a feeling if he buzzed her apartment she wouldn't let him in. Joe took the stairs two at a time and before he knew it he was outside her apartment. What was he going to say to her? He hadn't thought about that. All he could think of was how devastated she'd looked when he had left. It took everything he had but finally he knocked on the door.

'Julia, you heard what the doctor said, I'm supposed to be resting. Unnecessary walking to the door because you forgot your key again is not helping.'

He felt butterflies in his stomach as he heard her voice coming from behind the door. He'd missed her voice. Recorded voicemails just weren't the same. However he started to panic as he heard her unlocking the door. She pulled it open and Joe felt his stomach churn as her eyes grew wide as she stared at him. And then she dropped the cup of coffee she was holding.

The cup smashed on the wooden floor and Lauren scrambled backwards as the hot liquid splashed across the floor. What was he doing here? No one had heard from him in a month. She didn't know what to say so instead decided to kneel down and start picking up the broken pieces of the cup. She sensed Joe kneeling down but didn't look at him.

'Let me do it.'

'No, I'm fine.'

She picked up as many pieces as she could and walked back into the apartment. She threw the pieces of the cup into the bin and then closed her eyes. She was pretty sure Joe was still stood at the door and that he could hear her.

'If you're coming in, close the door behind you.'

There was a moments silence but then she heard the sound of the door clicking closed. She picked up a towel and walked back into the hallway. Joe was stood awkwardly in the doorway to the sitting room but when he saw her reappear in the hallway he stepped in front of her.

'Please, let me dry it up.'

Finally she looked up into his blue eyes. It surprised her how tired he looked. Over the past month she'd made a mental list of all the things she'd wanted to say to him. To let him know that she blamed him for her awful morning sickness and the mood swings, but most importantly, that he had broken her heart when he'd left. However as she looked at him this list disappeared and as she felt him tugging gently at the towel she let go and watched as he knelt down and started drying up the spilt coffee.

'Do you want a coffee? Seeing as I have to make another one.'

Joe stopped mopping up but didn't turn to look at her. That had been a cheap shot but she had a right to it. He counted himself lucky that she hadn't thrown the coffee at him as he probably deserved it.

'Yeah, a coffee sounds great.'

He heard her walk back into the kitchen and then the sound of the kettle being filled up and turned on. He finished drying up as best he could and walking slowly into the kitchen. Lauren had her back to him and was busy making the drinks. For the first time he noticed what she was wearing. Her hair was tied up and she had on grey sweats and the black zip hoodie they'd all worn during Starship. As she turned around his eyes dropped to her abdomen.

'The doctor said I won't show until 4-5 months.'

He felt his cheeks burn slightly as he realised she had seen him looking. He brought her eyes up to meet hers. She seemed wary of him but then she blinked before turning away from him and picking up her coffee.

'Come on, we've got a lot to talk about.'

Lauren quickly walked past him and headed into the sitting room. After a moment she heard him walking into the kitchen. She sat down on the sofa and curled her legs up underneath. She watched as Joe came in a few seconds later, carrying his own coffee and sat on the armchair across from her. A silence slowly set in. Lauren knew she should be angry, he'd just left when she need him. But in reality she was relived to finally have him back. She knew the others were going to skin him alive when they saw him but for the first time in weeks she felt relaxed. She took a sip of coffee, she knew she should say something as they could end up sitting in silence forever if she didn't.

'I have my first ultrasound in 2 weeks.'

She didn't say anything else as she saw him choke slightly on his drink. Maybe that hadn't been the best thing to start with but they had to start somewhere and she guessed it was best if they got straight to it.

'So this is really happening then?'

She gave him a half smile and he nodded at her before looking into his cup. A thought suddenly struck her, she wanted to know. Why had he run?

'Where did you go?'

Joe took a breath before looking up at her. She was staring back at him but he could tell it was hard for her to bring it up. He thought back over the past 4 weeks. He hadn't been anywhere specifically; he'd just driven aimlessly, going from one motel to the next.

'I'm sorry I left you, it was so selfish of me.'

Joe panicked as Lauren started crying. Really crying. Without thinking he put down his cup and moved to sit next to her. He pulled her onto his knee, wrapped his arms around her and held her to his chest but this didn't stop her from whacking her fists against his chest and shouting all kinds of abuse at him. Joe too it all in silence as he knew he deserved it all. What kind of man ran away? After a few minutes she fell silent and Joe felt her bury her head into his shoulder. She was still shaking with sobs so Joe held her tighter. It felt so amazing to have her close again and in that moment Joe knew he'd never leave her again.

Lauren tried to steady her breathing as the last few tears fell down her face. As they sat there she felt so safe in his arms. His smell was so comforting and she would have been happy to stay wrapped in his arms forever. It was going to be hard but they could make this work.

'Thank you for coming back.'

She spoke in barely more than a whisper but by the way Joe squeezed her, she knew he had heard. She didn't know how long they sat like that but all too soon her eyes flashed open as she heard the front door unlocking. Julia was home, and from the sound of it she wasn't alone. Lauren quickly pulled herself free of Joe's arms and ran to the living room door.

Sure enough, there to greet her in the hallway were Julia, Jaime, Denise and Meredith. Julia was carrying Chinese takeout so said hello before walking into the kitchen. Lauren tried to smile but she could feel her heart beginning to race. She watched as the girls took off their shoes and coats. However as her eyes met Jaime's she knew she had given herself away.

'Sweetie what's up?'

'Nothing.'

She moved to take their coats off them. Why was she lying? When they went into the sitting room they were going to see Joe. Just as she had all three coats she heard Denise gasp. Lauren took a deep breath and looked around; Joe was stood in the living room doorway.

Joe looked at the three girls as they all glared back at him. His eyes met Lauren's and she seemed very distressed and was gulping in air. However before he could say anything Denise stepped towards him.

'Look whose come crawling back.'

Joe felt trapped as he turned and saw Julia stood in the kitchen doorway. She also looked very disapproving. He felt like he'd walked straight into the lion's den. He tried to think of something to say but couldn't make his mouth form any words.

'Do you think it's okay to go a month without anyone knowing where you are and then just turn up here?'

He stumbled backwards as the girls moved past Lauren and walked towards him.

'That baby is just as much yours as it is Lauren's.'

'I know! That's why I came back!'

'Came back? You should have never left in the first place!'

'DENISE!'

Everyone turned to stare at Lauren as she shouted. She felt like she couldn't catch her breath, all the shouting seemed so loud and it was sending her dizzy. She was aware Julia had walked to stand in front of her and was pulling the coats away from her.

'You okay?'

Lauren nodded. She slowly began to catch her breath but she still felt dizzy. She closed her eyes, it felt like her heart was fluttering.

'Baby okay?'

This made her stop for a second. Except for the side effects of being pregnant she hadn't felt anything of the actual baby. They said this was the hardest time as you had no way of knowing if the baby was okay. But after a few moments of breathing she nodded.

'Come on, let's get you sat down.'

Joe moved out of the way as the girls surrounded Lauren and walked with her into the living room. He slowly retook the seat he had been sat in to start with as the girls led Lauren over to the sofa. She was still gasping for air. Joe felt a prickle up his spin as she realised she was having a panic attack. It was his coming back that had caused it and what if it harmed the baby? He's breath caught slightly as he thought this. She was nearly three months pregnant with his child. She still had her eyes closed but her breathing was almost back to normal. Joe knew despite the shock and the running away he still loved her but he had a feeling it would take a long time to forgive him for what he did. He wanted nothing more than to be with her and so he decided he would wait, wait until she was ready to give a relationship between them a try.

He brought his mind back into the room as he saw all the girls were now settled. Denise and Jaime were sat either side of Lauren on the sofa and Meredith was sat on the other armchair. Julia had left the room to get the takeout. It struck Joe how strange the situation was. The three girls kept exchanging glances and then glaring at him and Lauren was looking at everything in the room except for him. Finally Julia came back in and set the takeout trays down on the coffee table. As she opened the lids the smell filled the room and Joe noticed the colour drain from Lauren's face.

'Sorry.'

And with that she was scrambling out of the room and a few seconds later a door slammed shut. Joe slowly turned to look at the girls. Joe slowly turned to look at the girls. It surprised him that they had all gone back to doing what they were doing.

'Is she okay?'

'It's nausea; it's a typical side effect of early pregnancy.'

He felt the eyes of the four girls on him. Joe sighed and slowly looked up at them all. He had no idea what expression was on his face but he was surprised as all the girls' faces softened.

'You came back Joe, and that's all that matters.'

He looked at Julia as she spoke and for the first time, he realised his hands were shaking. Running away was one of the worst things he had ever done. He looked up as Lauren slowly walked back into the room and sat down. She still looked a faint shade of green and she was eyeing the takeout with disgust. Suddenly she picked it up and held it out to Joe.

'I'm not gonna eat it and it's be a shame for it to go to waste.'

He looked at her for a moment. There was no anger in her eyes, they were red from crying but they weren't hostile. He got up and slowly took the takeout tray from her. His heart soared as she gave him the faintest of smiles. But then there was a mischievous look in her eyes.

'Are you going to tell the others you're back or shall I?'

* * *

Lauren and Julia walked into the bar and looked around for their friends. About half way along they saw the group sat in a booth and walked over. As they sat down Lauren kept looking over her should towards the door. Joe was due to arrive in 5 minutes and it was safe to saw Lauren was nervous. Even though everyone was making polite conversation, the tension in the air was almost visible. Their friends hadn't been best pleased to hear that Joe was back and also that he'd gotten straight to her without encountering any of them. It touched her that her friends cared so much but ultimately it was up to her whether or not she took Joe back and they had to accept her choice. He'd already won over the girls but Lauren was more worried about the boys. They had been very protective of her over the past four weeks and her eyes widened as she saw Brian flecks his knuckles. Everyone had agreed to meet with Joe because Lauren had asked them to but they all seemed so hostile. She wanted nothing more than them all to be friends again.

'Guys, before you say anything, hear him out.'

She looked at each of them as they all slowly turned to look at her and gave them what she hoped was her most serious look. Finally she heard the door open and bolted over to it as she saw Joe walking in.

'Hey.'

'Hi.'

Joe could help but smile as he was greeted by Lauren's bright face. Her eyes still didn't have back that sparkle that he'd always loved but they were getting there. He felt butterflies in his stomach as she slipped her hand into his and lead him over to the group. As they neared the group Joe felt like he was being led in for a court hearing. Denise, Julia, Jaime and Meredith all gave him small smiled but from the other he was met with cold glares. All too soon Lauren let go of his hand and retook her seat, Joe took the only remaining seat which everyone seemed to have shuffled away from and looked at his friends. He knew they had a right to be angry, he was angry with himself for being so stupid.

There was an awkward silence developing within the group. Joe was waiting for them to speak but he could tell they were all waiting for him to say something. He looked at Lauren for encouragement but she merely stared at him in shock as if she was regretting setting up this meeting. Joe let the silence drag for a few more seconds before taking a deep breath.

'Before you all say it, I know I'm an idiot.'

'Well you said it not us.'

Joe smiled and saw his friends break into smiles at what Brian had said. The tension had instantly been lifted and he could feel himself being accepted back into the group and this caused him to breathe a sigh of relief. They didn't have to talk about what happened as it was all in the past. Suddenly he came out of his thoughts as he heard Brian cough and his expression became serious.

'Are you back for good?'

'Yes.'

'Well, you're forgiven in my eyes as long as Lauren's forgiven you.'

Lauren's breathing stuttered slightly as everyone turned to look at her. She was glad he was back but she hadn't yet thought about if he was forgiven. She thought back over the past month, it had been a lot harder than she would have expected. Morning sickness had been a pain in the arse and she felt like she had been such a burden to everyone, especially Julia. Julia had been amazing the past month, she was always amazing but she really had helped her through and if anything, their friendship had grown stronger. It's odd what subjects come up when you're sat on a bathroom floor with one of you leaning over a toilet for half the night. She slowly brought her eyes up to meet Joe's. It surprised her that there was a certain sadness in his deep blue eyes and he seemed to be almost begging her to say yes, but maybe it was in her imagination.

'You came back, and that took courage, so yeah I think you are forgiven.'

She couldn't help but smile too as his whole face broke into a large smile. She looked around and saw everyone was smiling. Some of them even looked relived. Joe was their friend, and sometimes people did stupid things and it didn't always do to hold grudges.

'Well seeing as you've been MIA for a month I think you owe us all a drink.'

Joe smiled but nodded and took the order before walking over to the bar. Everything had worked out okay, he shouldn't have been so worried. Now that he'd stopped being so selfish about the whole situation he could focus on Lauren and the baby. As he was waiting in line he heard movement behind him, he turned and saw Lauren had followed him. He smiled at her.

'Aren't you supposed to be abstaining from alcohol?'

Lauren laughed and pushed Joe playfully. She knew to everyone else it must have looked strange that she had so easily let Joe fall back into place but it had felt like the right thing to do. The baby needed Joe and she needed him too. Some things were best forgotten and his absent was one of them. They could simply start over with the whole pregnancy, 'better late than never' she thought to herself. She watched Joe as he moved forward and ordered the drinks and a small smile slowly crept across her face.

Brian watched Joe and Lauren talk over by the bar for a few moments before turning to look at Julia. She had also been looking at the pair but brought her eyes to meet his as he spoke.

'Do we think he really is back for good?'

'Yes Brian, you didn't see the state he was in at the apartment. He really does regret what he did.'

Brian nodded before looking back at the scene. He really did hope Joe was back for good. He hadn't seen Lauren smile like that since he had left. However a part of Brian couldn't help but worry about what the next few months would bring.

* * *

_A/N: Okay hope you liked that! So the rest of the chapters from now on are kind of going to be snap shots of points through the pregnancy :D_


	13. That Was Unexpected

_A/N: Hello people! I was going to update earlier today but I kind of got waylaid with taking pictures for my photography course XD sorry about that…anyway on with the update!_

_Guest: Yay! Haha thank you :')_

_1katiemariee: Bahahaha XD baseball bat and a net…funniest thing ever and yay! Haha_

_TearsOfaClown: Woo hehe and hmm…maybe you should read this chapter…._

_I do not own the characters, they are based on real people. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren finished her makeup and looked at herself in the mirror. Today was the day, her first scan. Today she'd see the baby for the first time. The thought excited her. Since Joe had come back two weeks ago, she had felt so much calmer; she didn't have to go through this alone. She rested her hands on her abdomen, it still didn't feel any different but she knew that would change. She looked around as she heard the phone rang. Joe was here. She heard movement as Julia went to buzz him in. She looked at herself once more in the mirror and left the room. She walked into the sitting room and was just putting her phone into her purse when there was a knock on the door.

'Bye Juls.'

'Don't forget the pictures!'

She smiled as she walked down the hallway. Trust Julia to say something like that, although Lauren had to admit she was looking forward to the pictures too. She opened the door and smiled at Joe. He smiled back but he looked nervous, she squeezed his hand before walking past him towards the stairs.

* * *

Joe followed her down the stairs and out of the building. He'd barely been able to sleep last night. This was it. Somehow it felt more real today. He was nervous but excited too. They walked across to his car and got in.

They drove mostly in silence. Every so often his eyes shifted to look at Lauren. She spent most of the journey staring out of the window whilst playing with her hands. He knew she must be nervous, this was such a big event for them and he couldn't wait to share it with her.

'What do you think the gender is?'

He had his eyes on the road but he heard her breath catch slightly, he knew that question had caught her off guard but surely she had been thinking about it too.

'They won't be able to tell until the next scan.'

'I know, but what do you think it is?'

He slowly looked at her. She was looking down at her lap and her hair had fallen across her face so Joe couldn't see her expression.

'Well all the girls think it'll be a girl but I dunno, some days I'm set on a girl but then the next day I'm sure it's a boy. What do you think it is?'

Joe swallowed. It had been something he'd given a lot of thought to over the past few weeks and he'd realised that he'd always wanted a girl. He didn't know why but he had always pictured himself having girls. He smiled slightly at the thought.

'I hope it's a girl.'

He watched as she slowly looked at him through her hair. She was smiling at him and her eyes seemed to be almost twinkling. His heart soared a little. There were no more secrets and he felt they were finally getting back to being friends again. He finally looked away as they pulled into the car lot.

* * *

As they walked into the waiting room Lauren took a deep breath. The room was full of couples, it was clear some were here for the first scan like them but there were others who already had their bumps. She led Joe over to the reception and signed in. Then they walked over to some empty seat and sat down.

Lauren was busy reading a poster on the wall across from them when she heard rustling beside her. She turned and saw Joe flicking through a baby magazine. She tried and failed not to snort. He quickly turned to look at her which made her burst out laughing. Lauren didn't really know what was so funny as Joe was really trying to show he cared but the thought of Joe reading a baby magazine made her giggle. She tried to calm herself as she saw most of the waiting room was staring at her.

'What's so funny?'

'You are.'

'What?'

But before she could answer the sonographer came into the waiting room and called them into the room. As they waked behind the sonographer she shot him a look and could see he still looked confused, which almost made her laugh out loud again.

However, as the sonographer directed her to lie on the examination bed in the middle of the room she started to panic slightly. Joe saw in the seat positioned next to the bed and once he had sat down she slipped her hand into his. In terms of their relationship, despite the baby, she felt right now they were just friends. She hoped that maybe that could change but she knew it would take time. They needed to get to know each other as more than friends first. However right now, whatever they were to each other, she wanted him close.

'So is it your first baby?'

Lauren felt herself automatically smile as the sonographer spoke, it still felt funny hearing people say it. The word baby was a much bigger word than the four letters that made it up.

'Yeah.'

'Was it a shock when she told you?'

Lauren looked at Joe. She knew the sonographer was just making polite conversation but Lauren watched as Joe's expression became pained. She knew, no matter how many times she told him he was forgiven, he would carry the guilt of those four weeks for the rest of his life.

'Yeah it was, but it's a happy shock now.'

She watched as Joe and the sonographer exchanged a smile but as she turned away to turn on the ultrasound machine his face fell again. Lauren squeezed his hand and smiled at him as he looked down at her.

'Now, if I can just get you to roll your shirt up we can see what baby's getting up to.'

Lauren did as she asked before quickly taking Joe's hand again. The gel the sonographer rubbed onto her stomach felt cool and strange against her skin. Then she placed the probe onto the gel and dragged it around her abdomen. Lauren felt so impatient. The screen was still facing away from them and for a second she felt jealous that this woman was seeing her baby before she was. However these thoughts left her mind as she saw the sonographer's expression change as she pulled the probe from one side of Lauren's abdomen to the other.

'Oh.'

* * *

Joe felt Lauren's grip tighten as the sonographer spoke. Was there something wrong? Joe's mind began to jump to the worse possible conclusions and it seemed Lauren was doing the same. He rubbed her arm but she seemed too panicked to notice his touch.

'Oh? Oh what? Is there something wrong with the baby?'

Lauren was finding it hard to breath. She had thought that now Joe was back, everything would be fine. She had never thought about the chance of there being a problem with the baby. As she looked at the sonographer she couldn't understand why she was smiling.

'No, no, everything's fine…both the babies are fine. You're having twins.'

And with that she turned the screen around for them to see. Lauren stared open mouthed at the two human-like shapes on the screen. There defiantly were two of them. Twins. That thought had never even entered the universe of her thinking. As she looked at Joe she realised she was nearly breaking his fingers with how hard she was squeezing his hand, however he was so busy staring at the screen in shock that he hadn't seemed to have noticed.

'I bet you weren't expecting that! You're the first twins we've had this month.'

Joe dragged his eyes away from the screen and looked at the sonographer. She was beaming back at him and Joe couldn't help but smile too. There was going to be two babies.

All too soon the probe was removed and the image had gone. The sonographer handed Lauren some paper towels to wipe the gel off her abdomen and then they were ready to go. He looked down at Lauren as the sonographer held open the door for them. She seemed in a state of shock. They stopped by the reception to pick up copies of the scan pictures and as soon as the receptionist handed her the envelope, she opened it and pulled the pictures out. Joe knew that like him, she didn't quite believe it. After a few moments she put the pictures back into the envelope and looked at him.

'Ready to go?'

* * *

Lauren didn't really know why she asked that as she was the one who had just held them up. She still couldn't believe there were two of them. She'd just gotten use to the idea of being pregnant and now she had to get use to the idea of having twins. She walked in a daze and came back to reality as they reached Joe's car. They got in and sat in silence. Either Joe was waiting for her to say something or he was so shocked he had forgotten how to start a car.

'So erm…twins.'

She knew she was just stating the obvious but she couldn't think what else to say. She watched Joe as he fiddled with the keychain on his keys. For the first time Lauren felt worried. What if this was all too much for him again? It was almost too much for her but being the one who was pregnant she couldn't really run away. However she breathed a sigh of relief as he looked up and smiled at her.

'Guess we're going to have double the trouble.'

* * *

Joe's smile widened as Lauren laughed. It was such a care free laugh. Now that he was slowly getting over the shock he was starting to think on the bright side. Twins would be harder buy Joe suddenly felt so much more excited. It all seemed so real now. He looked across at Lauren, she had pulled out the pictures again and seemed so absorbed by them. He smiled to himself, they had gone about this whole relationship business in completely the wrong way but sometimes life had a funny way of showing you the right path.

'Hey Lo?'

'Mmmhmm?'

He felt nervous as he looked at her but she didn't look up at him. She was still gazing down at the pictures and smiling to herself.

'Do you think, maybe we could go out sometime?'

Joe instantly regretted saying anything as Lauren slowly looked up at him. She looked puzzled. He had never been great at asking girls out and he could see that even in special circumstances like this, it was still hard.

'Out? Like on a date?'

'Yeah, we've done everything in the wrong order so why not have the first date now?'

That had sounded better in his head but he relaxed slightly as Lauren slowly smiled. At least someone had found it funny.

'Yeah okay, but you should know I'm hard to impress.'

* * *

Lauren was joking of course and she laughed as Joe realised this and smiled at her. She smiled to herself as Joe looked away and started the car. There were ripples of excitement rushing through her. Joe had asked her out. She knew that him being there when the twins arrived was bigger than asking her out on their first date but by him asking, it showed he cared about her too. Maybe, despite the rough start they could make this work. She watched him as her drive out of the car lot and she knew, everything was going to be okay.

As Joe brought the car to a stop outside her apartment building Lauren stared straight ahead for a moment. She kind of didn't want to leave Joe, not just yet.

'Friday night at 7? I thought we could have a meal and catch a movie?'

She blinked and looked around at him. Her first reaction had been to think that going to see a movie was quite a kiddie thing to do but then she realised that with her not drinking they couldn't really go to a club. She suddenly realised suggesting something like that was very sweet so she smiled and nodded.

'I'll see you then.'

* * *

Joe smiled and watched as she opened the door. However it surprised him as she got half way out before quickly getting back in and closing the door to.

'I almost forget to give you these, they gave us four so you should have two.'

He looked down and saw she was holding out two of the scan photos. He lifted his eyes up to meet hers and saw she was smiling. He took the photos and watched as she got out of the car. He made sure she made it through the gate before looking down at the photos. There they were. He felt butterflies in his stomach. They just had 6 months to wait.

* * *

Lauren let herself into the apartment and closed the door behind her. She barely made it any distance into the hallway before Julia appeared in the sitting room doorway and ran towards her.

'How was it?'

Lauren laughed at Julia's eagerness. She tried to remain calm but her own excitement was boiling up. She pulled Julia into the sitting room and sat her down.

'Okay, are you ready for this?'

She slowly pulled out the envelope and Julia was almost jumping with excitement. She pulled out the photos and then quickly handed them to Julia. Julia took the photos and looked at them, Lauren watched as her expression became puzzled.

'What…why are there two?'

Lauren stared at Julia. She hadn't thought she would have to explain this. As Julia turned to look at her, Lauren smiled and suddenly Julia's eyes widened with realisation and she gasped.

'It's twins?'

'Yes!'

Lauren laughed as Julia screamed and pulled her into a tight hug. Lauren let all her excitement out and as she laughed tears of happiness fell down her face. However now, they had double to amount of work to do but Lauren smiled to herself. She was ready for whatever the next few months brought.

_A/N: Oooo haha XD and I'm afraid I won't be able to update until Monday as I'm going to London :'( I hope you have a nice weekend!_


	14. First Date

_A/N: I'm sorry this is late! I've just had a really hectic day XD but I hope you like it!_

_Obsessed31: I know! And awww thank you :')_

_1katiemariee: Haha a bat and a net…what every good person should use XD and cool! You saw War Horse?! I so wanna see that. I went because I had to look at a photographer's work and go to university open day_

_Sami-sam99: Haha woo!_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe thanks and I never thought about that XD I didn't mean to quote haha_

_Guest: Yay! Glad you like it!_

_My beautiful idiot: Aww thank you! Hope you like this update!_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yay! Hope you continue to like it!_

_Take a walk off my knife: Woo! Haha :')_

_Princessmag: Thank you! And aww that's such a sweet thing to say :') And I'm glad you like it! And no you are fabulous!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren was pacing up and down the sitting room. She'd already changed her outfit three times and wished Joe would arrive already before she decided to change again. She walked into the kitchen and stopped by the refridgerator, she had done the typical thing and stuck the scan pictures on it. Normally looking at them made her excited but she was too nervous so she looked away.

'Lo, calm down.'

She jumped as Julia spoke from the doorway however she looked away after a moment and paced up and down the kitchen. She heard Julia sigh and as she looked up was met by her exasperated look.

'What if we have nothing to talk about?'

'Lauren! You're having his children. If you don't have anything to talk about I'd be seriously worried.'

This didn't help Lauren at all. In fact it made her even more nervous. She started pacing faster and faster and ended up spinning round in a circle until Julia grabbed hold of her and stopped her. After a few moments she looked at Julia and laughed as Julia began doing over exaggerated breathing exercises.

'Breathe!'

And finally Lauren did and felt herself calming, until there was a knock on the door.

'I might have given him the code for the gate.'

'What?! Why Julia? I have no time to prepare!'

* * *

Joe lent against the side of the door as he waited for someone to open it. He looked bemused as the sounds of Lauren and Julia bickering floated through the door. It grew louder and louder and then suddenly stopped as the door was pulled open and he was met by two of the biggest fake smiles he had ever seen.

'Hi Joe!'

He smiled a reply at Julia before looking at Lauren. She seemed to be finding it very hard to hide her nerves, it struck him as odd that she was nervous but he was rather flattered. He was the one who should be nervous, he so wanted to make this work but wanted to take it slow because when you didn't rush in to things they tended to work out better in the long run. This thought made him laugh to himself, so far they didn't have the best track record for not rushing into things. Suddenly he blinked and came back to earth to find Julia and Lauren were both staring at him.

'Shall we go?'

'Yeah.'

He smiled as Lauren answered and walked past him and down the corridor. Just as he was about the follow her he looked back as Julia coughed.

'Now Joe remember, look after her, let her choose the popcorn at the movie theatre and have her home by midnight.'

He heard Lauren groan from halfway up the corridor and looked round in time to see her burying her rather embarrassed looking face in her hands. He snorted but as he looked back at Julia and saw her serious face his smile dropped.

'Yes Miss Albain. I'll have her home by midnight.'

'And not a minute later.'

However as she said this she smiled and hugged Joe. He watched the door close and then started walking. Lauren still had a slight red tinge to her cheeks and didn't look at him but he found her embarrassment rather cute. They walked it to the restaurant as it wasn't far. There was still a slight chill in the air as winter tried it's hardest to hold on but spring was fast approaching. Joe looked around for objects that he could use to start a conversation but failed to find anything. He gave a sideways to Lauren. She was walking along with her hands in the pockets of her jacket and looking exclusively at the ground.

* * *

Lauren could feel Joe's eyes on her. Why did she feel so nervous? This was Joe she was going on a date with, she'd known Joe for years, he was one of her best friends. Then it struck her why she was so nervous. She felt like this had to work out, for the sake of the twins, but also for herself because she'd realised that behind all the anger and disappointment she had felt towards him when he had left she still loved him, more than words could describe and she wanted to be with him. They had almost ruined their chances the first time and she wasn't about to do the same thing twice. Finally she looked up as she realised where they were.

'Really? I didn't think this was very first date material.'

'Nonsense, they have gluten free dishes and it's one of the few places where it's acceptable for an adult to order soda.'

'What?'

'Well, it's no fun drinking alone.'

For a moment Lauren didn't know what to say so she allowed Joe to hold the door open for her and went inside. It was so nice of him to say he wouldn't drink because she couldn't. They were shown over to a booth and sat down. After a few seconds tbeir waitress came over and took their drink order. Lauren quickly found the small selection of gluten free meals on the menu and began silently debating over them.

* * *

Joe tried to look at the menu but he's eyes kept shifting upwards to look at Lauren. He didn't know what was so interesting about watching her read the menu. With their friends they'd eaten at a tonne of restaurants together so he'd seen her look at a menu before but this time he was almost memorised by her. Finally he looked up as he sensed someone stood next to the table and two drinks were placed down.

'Are you ready to order?'

Joe glanced at Lauren and saw her menu was closed, well she was ready but he hadn't even looked.

'Sorry I'm still deciding.'

'Well you know, you'll find it a lot easier to decide if you stop looking at your date, long enough to actually read the menu.'

Joe felt heat rush into his cheeks, had their waitress been watching them? For the first time he properly looked at her, she was a girl in her late teens and there was a mischievous smile playing about her lips. He didn't know why but he got a bad feeling about her. He glanced at the menu and choose the first thing he saw before looking at Lauren.

'You ready to order?'

'Yeah I'll have the gluten free chicken pasta.'

* * *

Lauren watched as she saw the waitress raise her eyebrows as she wrote it down. She glared at her as she turned to take Joe's order.

'I'll just have a cheese burger.'

'Sure thing.'

She smiled at Joe and then Lauren watched her strut away towards the kitchen. Lauren didn't even know her and she didn't like her. The girl hadn't even tried to hide her flirting with Joe. She sighed and pulled at a loose thread on her jacket. However she stopped as she felt Joe take her other hand and after a moment slowly looked up at him.

'So are you over the shock yet?'

She laughed and felt herself relaxing as she looked into his eyes. Why had she been worried? This felt so natural.

'Just about.'

Lauren smiled to herself. She had gotten over the shock pretty quickly, but that was because it had quickly turned to excitement. There were two babies, she was carrying twins. Already she was having visions of dressing them both in cute little outfits and she didn't even know what genders they were yet, but it didn't matter as either way she was so full of excitement that she thought she might explode.

'I'm actually really excited.'

* * *

Joe felt himself smiling. He was excited too and hoped the next few months would fly by. However they still had so much to plan and the enormity was suddenly overwhelming, they would never be ready in time, but as he saw Lauren smiling at it the sudden panic began to ebb. Everything would turn out all right. After a few moments of looking into Lauren's eyes, he looked around the restaurant. The restaurant was noisy and full of people. They were couples like them but also families. His eyes settled on a young couple sat a few tables away from them. They were both trying to convince their toddler that the only way he could have ice cream was to finish his meal but the toddler wasn't having any of it. It filled him with butterflies to think that would be him in a few months. As he carried on looking the toddler's father glanced up at him, Joe gave him a smile and the tired looking man smiled back before catching the spoon his son was about to throw at the waitress.

'Do you think we're going to cope with two?'

He turned to look at Lauren and saw she was looking at the couple too. He watched her for a moment but she didn't turn to look at him. Despite all the excitement she had to be scared, he was terrified but they weren't the first ever first time parents. There were books they could read and there were people to answer any questions they had. This thought made Joe think of the conversations he'd had with his parents a week or so ago. Informing them that they were going to be grandparents wasn't something you could really slip in normal conversation but he had told them and told them everything. They were disappointed he had run at first, he had never thought he'd be called a selfish idiot by his own mom but after she had had her rant, she couldn't stop telling him how happy she was for him. There had also been a long monologue about how she had always felt Lauren was the right girl for him and then had come the invitation. Next weekend he and Lauren were flying out to visit his parents, because of this they had decided not to tell them Lauren was having twins, as Joe wanted to wait to tell them the news in person. Lauren had already been to visit her parents during 'that month' and when Joe thought about them going to visit together it sent shivers down his spine. It was safe to say, Joe found Lauren's dad intimidating but they had Skyped and Joe had gotten the feeling that her dad didn't want to kill him so that was a good start. He blinked as he saw Lauren had turned to look at him.

'Yeah, I think we'll cope just fine.'

Joe felt his heart lift as her face burst into a big smile. He looked down as she squeezed hand, he had forgotten they were still holding hands, it just felt like such a normal activity to sit and hold her hand. They finally let go as their waitress brought over their meals.

* * *

Lauren suppressed the urge to stand up and punch the waitress in the face as she nearly threw down her plate before gently placing Joe's plate down. What was this girl's problem? She looked up at her and was met by her back as she was too busy looking at Joe.

'Will you be needing anything else?'

'I don't think so.'

Lauren sighed and began picking apart her food once the waitress had gone. She glanced up at Joe and saw he had been staring back at her and she felt a little calmer, it seemed Joe wasn't interested in the waitress and this made her feel better and she smiled. Whilst they ate they talked about everything. Lauren hadn't opened up to someone like this in a long time. It felt good to let everything off her chest to someone who could kind of understanding what she was going through. The main thing she spoke of was the pregnancy, all the worries she had but also the excitement too. Joe listened to her and offered his views on topics and Joe talked too about so many things that Lauren was sure he had never told anyone before. Lauren felt like they were really connecting, that they were forming bonds on so many levels. For the first time she felt like they really could make this work and that they could be a couple. Lauren felt excited at the thought; however they were going to take things slow so she decided to keep this thought to herself, but only for now.

All too soon their plates were empty and the annoying waitress was back. However neither Lauren nor Joe really noticed her but she seemed to not want to leave without them noticing her.

'Can I get you a dessert menu?'

Lauren sighed as Joe finally broke their gaze and looked at the waitress.

'Why not? We're celebrating.'

'Ooo celebrating what? A date that didn't fail?'

Lauren glared at the waitress and saw she was glaring back at her. However after the in depth conversation she had had with Joe the waitress' glare didn't affect her at all, but nothing could have prepared her for what Joe said.

'Nope, we found out this week we're having twins.'

Lauren couldn't help but laugh at the shocked expression on the waitress' face. She seemed unable to speak so nodded and quickly walked away. She looked at Joe as she heard him sniggering.

'I've been wanting to say that all night, who did she think she was?'

She tried not to giggle as the waitress returned with dessert menus. Her happy mood had gone but it didn't bother Lauren, nothing could bother Lauren right now. They chose and ordered their desserts and then after that they asked for the bill. Joe insisted on doing the gentlemanly thing and paid the entire bill. They tipped the waitress but it was more for the food than her service and left the restaurant. As they walked down the street towards the movie theatre Joe slipped his hand into hers. Lauren didn't pull away as she had been hoping he would, she tried to be as still as possible, too worried that Joe would pull away, but he didn't.

* * *

Joe held open the door for Lauren as they reached the movie theatre and went in after her. The theatre was crowded, as it always was on a Friday night. He scanned the boards of movie times and realised they hadn't discussed what they wanted to see. There was a RomCom starting soon, a comedy and also some big Hollywood film he'd seen advertised. He glanced at Lauren and saw she was staring at the boards too.

'Let's just see what ever movie starts next.'

Joe agreed and led her over to the ticket booth. The next movie to start was the comedy; it starred Will Ferrell or someone like that and looked okay. Joe bought their tickets and then they walked over to the confectionary stand. As he saw the popcorn he smiled to himself.

'Following Julia's rules I have to let you choose the popcorn.'

He heard her snort and watched as she stepped forward to pick. She picked sweet, Joe knew she would as he had once made the mistake of buying just salted for a StarKid movie night. He preferred salted but his wasn't about to tell her this as she triumphantly walked back over to him and offered him the popcorn. He took one piece which earned him an impatient shake of the box of popcorn so took a handful. He saw Lauren smile to herself as he ate the popcorn and guessed she had also remembered he liked salted more. However he quickly forgot this as Lauren took his hand and led him over to the right screen.

* * *

A few hours later and the film was finally over. Lauren hadn't found it very interesting but she had liked seeing it with Joe. They had held hands for the first part of the movie and when half way through the movie she had dropped her popcorn all over the floor, Joe had gone out to get her some more. When he had come back he had rested his hand on her leg, Lauren had felt like a teenage girl on her first date, the touch was exhilarating. Although now, as they walked back to her apartment she had a real craving for popcorn and wished she had bought another box on the way out. She sighed to herself, of all the things she could crave during pregnancy she was craving movie theatre popcorn. It wasn't even that nice, people only ate it as it was the done thing at a movie complex. However, she pushed the popcorn cravings aside and thought about their date. It had been the best date she had ever been on. It had been simple but so affective. With the simple surrounding they had been able to just concentrate on each other. She came out of her thoughts as she heard Joe speak.

'Thanks for saying yes.'

She realised they had come to a stop outside her apartment building. As she looked up at him the light from the street light was casting long shadows across his face but she could still see the contented smile on his face.

'Well thank you for making my yes so worthwhile.'

She smiled as he laughed at this, she liked making him laugh. His laugh had always been one of her favourite things about him. Finally she turned away and let them through the gate into the courtyard. As they walked up to her apartment they didn't meet anyone and then at last they were outside her door. She looked at her watch and smiled.

'It's 11:50, we're ten minutes early.'

* * *

Joe suddenly felt awkward as they both stood there. He wanted to kiss her, he'd wanted to all night but he felt almost scared to do so but finally he took the plunge and pulled her towards him and brought his lips down on hers. She kissed him back almost immediately and Joe hoped this was because she had been waiting for him to kiss her. Her lips felt so soft and they brought back memories of that night that Joe still thought about daily. He pulled her against the wall and placed his hands on her hips. He felt her tongue brush against his teeth and without hesitation he let her in and their tongues did almost a dance between their mouths. She pulled her hands through his hair and her touch left behind tiny fireworks that sent shivers down his spine. Finally they both pulled away and tried to catch their breath. She rested her head on his chest and Joe slowly ran a hand down her hair. They stayed like that for a few moments before Lauren looked up at him.

'I had a great time tonight.'

* * *

She quickly kissed him again but as she pulled away she could still feel the imprint of his lips on her. That had been amazing, she had wanted it to last forever but she knew if she was even five minutes late Julia would probably come looking for her and she didn't want her walking in on her and Joe's private interaction. She opened her door and waved at Joe before shutting it too. Once it was closed she leant against and almost jumped up and down with excitement. Julia must have heard her as she came into the hall and stared at her.

'Good date then?'

Lauren beamed at her and hugged her friend before nearly dancing towards her bedroom. That date had lifted a great weight off her shoulders. She collapsed onto her bed and looked up at the ceiling. She was now 100% sure that she loved Joe and after tonight she was starting to think he might love her too.

* * *

_A/N: Hope you liked it! Bye!_


	15. Plane Rides

_A/N: Hi guys! I hope you're all okay!_

_1katiemariee: I know! I was like I have to put it in! And aww! Well I hope you continue to love it! And argh! I so have to see it! There are so many things I want to see XD_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: Yes! Hahaha and yay! And yeah I'm getting a bit behind writing but it's because I'm writing later chapters XD so I literally just wrote all this now :')_

_Obsessed31: Yeah! Haha silly waitress XD_

_TearsOfaClown: Thank you! And yeah! :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Joe took a breath as he put the last of his clothes into his holdall. He was suddenly nervous about seeing his parents but it reassured him that Lauren would be there too. As he thought this, his attention turned to the envelope that was lying on the bed next to his back. He picked it up and pulled out the plane tickets that were inside. There was one for himself and one for Lauren. They were only going for two days but Joe was looking forward to spending some time with her. He checked his watch and saw it was time to go pick Lauren up so he picked up his holdall and left the apartment.

He pulled up outside Lauren's apartment building and saw she was already stood outside waiting for him. As he got out the car he smiled at her and pulled her into a hug.

'Hi.'

'Hey, you're very bright for this early in the morning.'

He laughed as he picked up her small suitcase and walked with it over to the car. He guessed his happy mood was pretty obvious but he didn't see a reason to hide how happy he was. He put her suitcase in the trunk and then held her door open for her.

'After you.'

Joe smiled as Lauren rolled her eyes but as he closed it behind her saw she was smiling to herself. He walked quickly around the car and got in the driver's seat. Once they were both strapped in, he started the car and they set off towards the airport.

* * *

Lauren had been to Joe's parents' house before but she had never been on her own. She was excited to go and even more excited to give his parents the news that they were having twins. As they drove she thought of all the other people they had already told. Each time they got mostly the same reaction, extreme excitement. Joe's parents were the last on their list of close family and friends to tell, she had wanted to tell their parents first but she knew it was important to Joe to tell them face to face. Suddenly her train of thought stopped as another thought drifted into her mind. Granola Bars. She was suddenly having a massive craving for them and they were all she could think about. These were the parts of being pregnant that she did not understand. The cravings. How had she gone from thinking about Joe's parents, to thinking that if she didn't eat a Granola Bar in the next ten minutes she would die? She tried not the think about it but knew it was impossible when, as she pulled out her phone, it turned into a Granola Bar.

'Joe can we just stop off at Wal-Mart?'

'Why?'

She could hear the confusion in her voice and she suddenly felt embarrassed to say it. How do you example a sudden irrationally craving for a packaged snack?

'I need to buy some Granola Bars.'

'Granola Bars?'

'Yes.'

She tried to keep her face straight as Joe slowly turned to look at her, a smile creeping across his face. After a few seconds of looking at his smile, she couldn't help but laugh. She knew how stupid she had sounded but she was glad Joe had seen the funny side too. It made her feel reassured that he didn't ask why she suddenly wanted them; he just shook his head whilst smiling and then, as they reached the entrance to Wal-Mart turned off and parked the car.

'Do you want me to come in with you?'

'No I'm good.'

She smiled at him before opening the door and nearly running across the car lot towards the store. It was like her body knew she was getting close to Granola Bars and was intensifying the craving. Finally she made it through the doors and into the doors. Dodging the other shoppers she quickly made it to the snack aisle and walked along looking for them. Halfway up she found them and was just debating whether or not she could carry four boxes when she heard a noise behind her. She turned around as saw two girls were stood further down the aisle. When they saw she was looking at them, they instantly looked away but she could see their eyes kept flicking back to her. It was then that she noticed one of them had StarKid shoes on. Oh dear. Not that Lauren didn't like meeting fans but she didn't really have time right now. She and Joe had to get to the airport and she was on the verge of ripping open the boxes of Granola Bars and eating them all right now. After a few moments of the three of them staring at each other Lauren finally sighed and started walking down the corridor past them.

'Lauren!'

She had gotten past them and almost out the aisle before one of them shouted her. She stopped and looked round at them smiling.

'Hey!'

'Can we please have a picture with you? We love you so much.'

'Sure!'

Lauren walked back towards them and posed for the picture. They seemed like nice girls, although she hoped they didn't see anything strange in her buying four boxes of Granola. She spoke to them for a few minutes and found out their names. It didn't happen a lot but she still got butterflies every time someone recognised her. Finally she said goodbye and walked to the checkout. However the girls seemed to have finished their shopping so were following behind her. She paid for the Granola Bars and tried to speed out of the store so they wouldn't see which way they went but as she looked behind her she saw they had paid too. They might see her getting in Joe's car. She shook herself, the last thing she needed to do was look guilty. So with a deep breath she marched over to Joe's car and got in, just as the girls came out of the store.

'You get them?'

'Yep.'

She held up a box to show him before opening it and pulling one out. She ripped it open and took a bite, whilst she chewed she watched the girls walk along to a car. They seemed totally oblivious to where she had gone so that reassured. She looked up and smiled at Joe as he squeezed her leg.

'Now can we go to the airport?'

'Of course.'

* * *

The rest of the drive to the airport was uneventful and finally they had parked up and were walking into the terminal. Joe carried both their bags and led them other to the correct check in desk. They checked in without a problem and in no time they were gate side. For a few moments Joe looked at Lauren, she was playing with her hands and every so often glanced around. He guessed she was still thinking about Granola Bars. She had managed to eat a whole box in the car but had then had to settle with putting the other three boxes in her suitcase, she hadn't been very happy about this. He laughed to himself, she really was craving some bizarre things right now but it excited Joe too as the cravings were a reminder of the pregnancy and of their twins. He finally came out of his thoughts of their flight was called.

He sighed as they moved forward an inch in the queue to get on the plane. What was taking so long? All people had to do was find their seat and sit down. He looked down at Lauren and saw she was almost jumping with excitement. She really did have an unhealthy obsession with plane travel. Suddenly she whipped around and looked at him.

'I want to sit by the window!'

She looked like an excited 6 year old you have never flown before. He smiled at her and raised his eyebrows.

'Sorry no can do, I'm sitting by the window.'

He laughed as for a second her face had fallen and she actually did look upset. However as he laughed he saw her shoot him a look and a smile spread across her face.

'So you are willing to not let the woman who is carrying your children, have what she wants?

He sighed happily and put and arm around her. She knew exactly what to say to always win any of the playful arguments they had. She knew as well as he did that any mention of the twins made him all misty eyed and cleared his mind of other thoughts. He looked at her defeated as they finally made it onto the plane and she beamed up at him. The flight attendant checked their tickets and the slowly made their way down the plane to their seats.

* * *

Lauren took great joy in flopping down in the window seat and watched Joe as he put their hand luggage up in the overhead locker.

'Do you want anything out of it?'

'My iPod please.'

She squeezed her eyes shut and beamed at him. She giggled as he heard him muttering to himself before sensing him sit down next to her. As she accepted her iPod she opened her eyes and looked at him. She liked teasing Joe, it wasn't mean teasing but it was more the way the two spoke to each other. She cared a lot about him and knew he cared about her and because of this they often joked with each other. As Joe looked away to look at the person who was sitting down next to him, Lauren looked out of the window and became absorbed in watching the ground staff load the luggage onto the plane. A heavy rain had started and the droplets splashed against the window, there was a bad storm coming. As much as Lauren loved flying, she hated flying in bad weather. She unravelled her iPod earphones, put them in and quickly found some soothing music and tried to relax.

Finally everyone was sat down and the flight attendants were closing the doors. Lauren pulled out her earphones and turned off her iPod. She felt slightly more relaxed but one look at the rain lashing against the window was enough to bring her panic levels back up and over the hums of the plane she thought she heard the sound of a roll of thunder.

'Good morning. This is your captain speaking; I ask that you turn off all electrical appliances for take-off. Now this morning we are experiencing heavy cloud cover and rainstorms but we should be able to break through it. The flight attendants have readied to cabin for take-off so as soon as we get the all clear we'll be taxied back.'

Lauren tried to keep her breathing even but it was rather difficult. A few moments after the captain had spoken she felt a jolt and then the plane was been pushed backwards out of the gate. Normally she'd looked out of the window but today she just stared straight ahead. However she looked sideways as she felt a hand slip into hers and as her eyes travelled upwards she was met by Joe's calm blue eyes. He smiled at her and squeezed her hands. Finally she felt herself relaxing and eventually was able to smile back at him. She became aware of how tight her other hand was gripping the arm rest so she unfurled it and placed it on her abdomen. She still couldn't feel anything but it reassured her and she took another few deep breaths before looking out of the window. They were now on the runway but she didn't feel as panicked anymore. As the plane picked up speed she carried on looking out of the window and then saw the ground fall away beneath them.

The climb through the clouds was awful. The whole plane shook as it hit the different wind currents. Lauren felt like she was going to be sick. However holding on to Joe's steady hand kept her just under the full panic levels. She peeped up at him and was shocked by how calm he was but she was grateful that he was. Finally the turbulence stopped and the plane levelled out. The captain kept on the seatbelt sigh for longer than normal but did tell them they could use electrical devices. Upon hearing this Lauren quickly turned her iPod back on and put the earphones in. She rested her head against Joe's shoulder but after a few moments he slowly let go of her hand and put his arm around her. The rest of the flight was mostly uneventful and it past in a blur to Lauren until they landed.

* * *

Joe got up and stretched before getting their bags down from the overhead locker. He listened vaguely to the talk around him of how it had been a very smooth landing, compared to the take-off and finally people starting moving as the filed off the plane. He made sure Lauren was with him before making his way down the aisle towards the door. As he saw the welcome sigh inside the terminal he was suddenly nervous again. He may have told his parents that he and Lauren were together. They most likely move together but they hadn't really spoken about the whole boyfriend/girlfriend issue. Sometimes Joe wanted to just take the plunge and ask her out but with it being such a unique situation he knew it didn't work like that. They acted like boyfriend and girlfriend but was that just because he was the father of her unborn children? He had meant to tell Lauren what he'd told his parents but it had never been the right moment so he hoped his parents wouldn't be too outright about it. They got their bags and then went out to the arrivals.

He instantly saw his parents and waved at them before leading Lauren over. His mom instantly pulled him into a tight hug before nearly throwing him on the floor to hug Lauren. He saw Lauren's surprised expression over his mom's shoulder as she accepted the hug. Joe looked around as he felt a hand on his shoulder and just had time to nod at his dad before he was pulled into a hug.

'How was the flight?'

'Okay, except for the bad turbulence at our end, there's a bad storm in Chicago.'

'Joe! What are you doing, making a pregnant woman fly in bad weather?'

He stared at his mom in disbelief. She had her arms wrapped around Lauren and was glaring at him, Lauren was also staring at him but she just looked confused.

'Well it was you who told us to come this weekend!'

'Yes, yes, dear. Anyway let's get you two home.'

This was typical of his mom, his whole life she would always instantly back down the minute she was protested. He smiled as she steered Lauren out of the building. Joe shared a knowing look with his dad before following them. They all crammed in the car and set off back to his parents' house. As they drew closer Joe looked out of the window and thought back over childhood memories he had had here. Finally they pulled onto the drive and everyone got out. The house hadn't changed at all since Joe had last visited. He smiled to himself before helping his dad bring their bags in. Once they were inside Joe suddenly felt relaxed, as he breathed in the familiar smell, he really felt like he was a kid again.

'I'll sure you up to your room.'

He inwardly sighed. His mom really did take her hosting role too seriously. They all followed her up the stairs and down the corridor to the room at the end. Which was his old room, he really couldn't understand how she thought he would have forgotten but it was nice that she cared. Once she had given them a quick tour she stood in the doorway and smiled.

'I'll leave you to settle in.'

He smiled as she closed the door but his smile quickly fell as he turned to Lauren. She was not smiling at all; in fact she was the exact opposite.

'Joe, why has your mom deemed it appropriate to put us in the same room and in the same bed?

'She's done it because I may have told them we're going out.'

He watched as her eyes grew wide and her breathing quickened.

'You did WHAT?'

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I like cliffhangers so yeah...this be a cliffhanger XD_


	16. Awkward Moment

_A/N: Okay first this chapter contains smut! I don't really know how it happened XD_

_1katiemariee: He is! XD Bahaha XD and cool! I've seen the Woman In Black…so scary!_

_swimtothemusic12194: I would actually die XD I ship them so much that sometimes I sit there and cry over Laurwalk feels XD and glad you like it!_

_TearsOfaClown: Because she wanted to be all romantic XD_

_Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

'I told her we were going out.'

Lauren began pacing around the room as Joe said it again. Her heart was racing but it wasn't just with panic and anger, it was also fluttering with excitement. He'd said they were going out.

'I'm sorry, but we might as well be going out.'

'Well I just would have liked to have been informed when you made a decision about our relationship.'

Her emotions were in such disarray that her anger had taken over and she had almost shouted the words at Joe. She had come to a stop right in front of him and they were both staring at each other.

'I don't see what the big deal is!'

She held her stance as Joe near enough shouted in her face. Why were they shouting? There was a strange sensation running through her. It was clear they both wanted each other as much as the other and yet they had chosen this moment to start arguing.

'Well it would have been nice if you had actually asked me instead of  
just presuming!'

'Fine! Lauren Lopez, will you go out with me?'

'Yes!'

* * *

A second later Joe moved the small distance between them and brought his lips down on Lauren's. He'd missed her warm, soft lips on his and so kissed her hungrily as he swung her round and carried her over to the bed. She was almost choking him with how tight she had her arms round his neck but he didn't want her to stop. Somehow he managed to lay her down on the bed and get on top of her without breaking their kiss. It felt like his whole body was pulsating with adrenaline. Lauren broke their kiss and sucked on his earlobe. Joe shivered as he felt himself getting hard. Her breathing was hot and heavy in his ear as she whispered.

'So are we going for take two then?'

He gently kissed down her neck and felt her shiver under his touch. They were going to do it and they wouldn't be drunk this time. Joe's breath quickened as he slowly unzipped Lauren's pants and pulled them open. He could hear her gasping for breath as he felt her hands on his face and she pulled his face back up to hers and brought her lips up to meet his. He felt almost dizzy from the anticipation. Whilst still keeping his lips locked on hers, he pulled aside her panties and rubbed her clit for a few moments before slowly slipping a finger inside her. Her reaction was almost instant as he felt her nails dig into his shoulders and she broke away from his lips and moaned softly. He looked down at her and saw her eyes had closed and there was a smile playing about her lips. As she started thrusting against him, he slipped another finger in and she moaned again, but louder this time.

'Holy fuck Joe.'

* * *

No one had ever made her feel like this. Waves of pleasure were rushing through her and she had given up trying to catch her breath as the way Joe was touching her was sending her crazy. She couldn't think straight but right now she didn't want to. Her hand brushed his crotch and her heart fluttered as she felt his hard bulge. She felt him twitch as she unzipped his pants, but then.

'I forgot to ask, do you guys need anything? A drink, a snack?'

She felt herself erupting into giggles as she looked at Joe and saw his eyes were almost popping out of their sockets at the fact his mom had just interrupted them. Even though this was one of the funniest moments of her life, she was slightly disappointed that they hadn't managed to do it.

'No mom, we're good.'

'Well, does Lauren need anything?'

Joe could not believe this was happening. He couldn't believe that he was in his late 20's and his mom was still able to ruin his chances with a girl. He looked down at Lauren and saw she had taken to holding her breath to stop herself from laughing. However he needed her to answer the question so silently begged her until she finally composed herself.

'No I'm okay.'

'I'm making lunch if you want any.'

He rolled his eyes. He knew she was just being polite but why had she had to choose now? However Lauren wasn't helping either, she had taken to slowly pulling his pant zip up and down and was smiling at him mischievously. It was having an effect on him that he wasn't able to control so when he next spoke his voice was more high pitched than normal.

'We'll be right down.'

Joe coughed to try and get his voice back to normal. Lauren finally stopped playing with his zip but only because she was too busy laughing at him.

'Are you all right Joe?'

'Yeah, I think I'm coming down with a cold.'

'Well don't give it to Lauren.'

* * *

Lauren almost laughed again at her comment. Finally they heard Joe's mom walking away. She looked up at Joe and saw he still looked embarrassed, she did feel sorry for him. It was the given worse nightmare that your mom would walk in on you. She tried to catch his gaze but it seemed he was refusing to look at her so she brought her lips to his and then slowly pulled on his bottom lip. They held each other's gaze. Lauren felt like time has stopped, there was nothing else in the world except for Joe. She would have stayed staring at him forever if Joe hadn't finally looked away and gotten off the bed. He walked into the en-suite and closed the door behind him. Lauren sighed happily, that had been amazing. Sure she wished they had gotten further but they were going out now, so there was plenty of time. The thought excited her. Knowing this she smiled to herself and zipped her pants up before sitting up.

Just as she was straightening out her t-shirt Joe came back into the room. She smiled at him sheepishly and he smiled back before walking over and pulling her into a hug. She burrowed her head into his chest and breathed in his smell. Her heart was still racing but she was slowly calming down. However her breath caught as she felt Joe place his hand on her abdomen.

'How are our little babies?'

Her face automatically broke out into a large smile as her mind filled with baby thoughts. Although thinking this made her think of something else. Telling Joe's parents about the twins! She suddenly felt excited about telling them.

'Come on, we have some news to tell your parents.'

* * *

Joe smiled as Lauren grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room. She was surprisingly strong for her small size. They made it downstairs and into the kitchen where Joe's mom was just finishing up chopping salad. She looked up as they came into the room.

'Joe carry those plates through.'

He did as he was told and heard Lauren follow him into the dining room. He put the plates down on the table before looking up at her. He was suddenly nervous as he had a feeling he knew what she was going to say.

'How are you going to tell them?'

'Well I thought you…'

'No.'

He pulled a face at her but knew she wouldn't back down. Deep down, he knew he had to be the one to tell them, him being their son and all. But Lauren was so much better with words than he was. He didn't know whether he should just come out and say it or make it a big surprise. However he didn't have any more time to think as he heard his mom announce lunch was ready. He took a seat next to Lauren just as his mom and dad came in. For a few moments they sat in silence, an awkward silence. Joe was trying to think how to word it but was brought back to earth when Lauren kicked him in the leg. He looked at her and saw her eyes flit from him to his parents. So after a moment's pause Joe slowly turned to look at his parents.

'Erm, Lauren and I have some news for you.'

It surprised him that his mom put down her fork and near enough squealed in excitement.

'You're getting married?'

Joe heard Lauren choke on the piece of salad she had just put in her mouth. He rubbed her on the back before looking back at his mom. Why did she always have to drop to the wrong conclusion?

'No! We're…having twins.'

Thankfully upon hearing this, his mom dropped the issue of marriage. She immediately stood up and came and hugged them. Lauren was still gasping for breath and choking but she accepted the hug and smiled.

'I'm going to be able to spoil two grandchildren!'

* * *

Lauren laughed at her excitement. Everyone close to them knew about the twins now. Now that they had told everyone they could finally settle into the business of actually planning for their arrival. The thought excited Lauren and she smiled to herself.

The rest of the weekend past in a flash and all too soon they were in the car back to the airport. The weekend had tired Lauren out but she was happy she had been able to spend the whole weekend with Joe. As they walked through the duty-free stores they held hands and Lauren had butterflies in her stomach the entire time. She felt like she was living in a fantasy world or that she was a Disney princess and all her dreams had come true. However she came out of her fantasy world as she noticed just what book Joe had picked up off the shelf. It was a baby names book.

'We don't know the genders yet.'

For some reason the thought of baby names freaked Lauren out. She never even knew what she wanted for her birthday so how on earth was she meant to decide on the two names of her children.

'I know but people normally have names picked out for both genders.'

'Fine, buy it then.'

She went and waited over by the door as Joe paid for the book. Once he had re-joined her they found a seat and sat down. Lauren took the book from him and opened it to the first page.

'How about Aaron for a boy?'

'You can't just pick the first name you see.'

She huffed and handed the book to him. This was going to be hard.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I know this is kind short but it's because the next chapter is going to be long :')_


	17. A Relaxing Weekend

_A/N: Looky! It's a bumper length chapter! I hope you enjoy it :')_

_Sami-sam99: Haha :D_

_1katiemariee: Bahaha I laughed when I wrote it as I thought 'what is the worst thing that could possibly happened' XD and haha classy guy XD and thank you :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe glad you liked it :')_

_My beautiful idiot: Haha thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren folded up the last few of her clothes and put them into her holdall. She had been looking forward to this weekend ever since she and the girls had decided to book it. Her, Julia, Denise, Jaime and Meredith were all going on a road trip. They'd decided after the past few weeks a girls' trip was needed. She zipped up her bag and pulled out a pair shorts from a drawer. She quickly took off her leggings and pulled on the shorts. But they wouldn't do up. She stopped and placed her hands on her abdomen. It felt bigger than she remembered. Slowly she walked into the bathroom. Once there she pulled up her shirt slightly and looked in the mirror. There was the curve of a bump. She had been noticing a slight curve for the past few weeks but suddenly it seemed to have gotten a lot bigger. She tried to do up her shorts again but they wouldn't.

'Okay me and you guys have a problem.'

She sighed. They were her favourite shorts but she'd expected that as she got further along her clothes would stop fitting but this was the first time it had happened.

'What's up?'

She looked round and saw Julia stood in the doorway. Julia looked her up and down and then she smiled.

'So I'm guessing we're going to have to go on a shopping spree?'

Lauren smiled at her and made a mental note to sort out her closet when they came back. She walked back into her room and put her leggings back on. She put on her jacket and zipped it up, as she pulled it down she was surprised she could still see the bump. It was amazing how fast it seemed to have grown. She sighed again but smiled to herself before picking up her holdall. She heard the phone ring, meaning the others were outside. She looked around the room once more before leaving.

As she walked into the hallway Julia nearly tripped over her bag in her haste to get to her. Lauren stared at her with a puzzled look.

'What?'

'I would have gotten your bag for you.'

Lauren blinked as she realised she was just staring open mouthed. She felt her hand tighten on the straps of the bag as Julia tried to take it off her.

'Julia I can carry my own bag.'

'You're not supposed to lift heavy things when you're pregnant.'

She tried not to but she couldn't help rolling her eyes. She hated that people had started treating her like a china doll, she was pregnant, she wasn't in a full body cast. However she saw the look in Julia's eyes and knew she'd flap around like a mother hen if she carried her bag one step further, so Lauren sighed and slowly released the bag. She was rewarded by a relieved smile from Julia.

'You can carry our purses.'

Lauren smiled and picked up Julia's purse from the hall table. She waited as Julia put on her jacket before holding the front door open for her. They both walked out and Lauren locked the door behind them.

They made it out to the gate and were met by Jaime. She hugged Julia and then Lauren but quickly held back and smiled.

'Do I feel a bump?'

Lauren smiled as Julia and Jaime giggled. She was quickly becoming convinced that the bump had grown bigger overnight. Jaime took one of the bags off Julia and then they were walking the short distance to where Denise's car was parked. They stuffed their bags into the trunk and were about to get in the back when Denise spoke.

'Meredith get in the back and let Lauren sit shotgun.'

'But I called shotgun.'

'Well pregnant beats call so get in the back.'

Meredith grumbled but smiled and hugged Lauren as she got out. Lauren smiled back and got into the front of the car. Once they were settled, Denise started the car and they were off.

They hadn't been driving 20 minutes before Lauren's cell rang. She frowned slightly as she saw who was calling her.

'Hi Joe.'

'Are you okay?'

* * *

Joe had not stopped worrying since he had received her text saying they were setting off. He didn't want to stop her from going away with her friends but he couldn't help but worry about her and the twins.

'Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?'

He could hear the confusion in her voice. Suddenly he knew it may have been a bad idea to call as he didn't really know what to say. He didn't want her to know that he was worried.

'Erm...I just wanted to call and make sure.'

* * *

Lauren looked round at Julia. She was a little confused as to why he had called her. They had seen each other last night and she had text him this morning. Julia looked back at her and shared her confused look.

'Okay, was that all?'

She could hear him breathing as if he wanted to say something to carry on the conversation. She knew he was probably worried but calling 20 minutes after they had set off was a little excessive.

'Joe, I'll call you when we arrive, bye.'

And with that she hung up. She looked out of the window as they drove. Unlike Joe, she was excited. It felt like it was finally something that was for her. Not that she wasn't excited for the arrival of the twins but she felt that sometimes all she ever heard about was them.

Coming out of the city they hit traffic. Lauren turned to look at Denise as she sighed and turned the radio on. She shot Denise as sideways glance before they both burst into song, after a moment the other three joined in.

'Guys, guys, quieten down, I'm getting a call.'

They all stopped singing as Julia spoke. Once there was silence she flipped open her phone and rolled her eyes before answering.

'What Joe?'

Lauren's head whipped around as she heard who Julia was on the phone to. Not Joe again. She couldn't be doing with his calls every 10 seconds. She placed her hands on the bump. She had noticed herself doing it a lot lately, even before the bump. She hadn't felt any movement yet but the doctor said that should happen soon enough.

'Joe, I'm looking at her and she looks fine...how am I supposed to know if the twins are okay? I'm not a doctor!'

Lauren felt her cheeks turning scarlet. Joe really needed to calm down or he'd given himself a heart attack. She held out her hand for the cell.

'Let me speak to him.'

However as Julia held out the cell to her, Jaime snatched it out of her hand.

'Hey Joe, you missed it all.'

'What?'

* * *

Joe was surprised to hear he was now talking to Jaime. He felt slightly panicked as he tried to think what she possibly meant when she'd said he'd missed it all.

'Yeah in the 20 minutes since you last called Lauren went into labour and delivered the twins.'

'What?'

Joe had shot up as she said this but then he heard her laughing. He sighed and slowly sat back down.

'Don't do that do me Jaime.'

'Come on Joe, Lauren's going to be fine. We're going to a spa resort, not sky diving.'

'I know but still.'

'But nothing, now we'll see you when we get back Joe.'

* * *

Lauren looked round and smiled at Jaime. She giggled and beamed back at her. It made Lauren laugh a little at the state Joe got himself into a times but it sent warm, fuzzy feelings through her as she thought about how much he cared about her. She came out of her thoughts as Denise spoke.

'So where are things at between you and Joe?'

'What do you mean? You know we're going out.

Denise's question had confused her. She and Joe were together so what could Denise be taking about?

'I mean living together, as much as Julia loves you I don't think she wants to live with you and two screaming babies.'

The realisation suddenly hit Lauren. Denise was right; she couldn't really keep living with Julia once the twins were born. She felt silly that she hadn't really thought about it before. She had wanted to move in with Joe eventually but now it felt like it was suddenly been thrusted upon her. She felt a little queasy all of a sudden. She turned to look a Julia and tried to smile as Julia smiled but her mouth felt heavy.

'Come on Lo, I'm not letting Joe get away with not doing his fair share of diaper changes.'

Lauren laughed and felt herself relax again. Moving in with Joe was now an exciting thought. However, for some reason the queasy feeling in her stomach didn't go away.

* * *

A few hours later and they were cruising along the road. They were almost at the spa resort and the excitement in the car was rising as the girls discussed which beauty treatments they were going to get. However Lauren wasn't really paying attention. She felt so dizzy and cold, despite the fact the inside of the car was warm. She cracked the window slightly and gulped in the fresh air.

'You okay Lo?'

'Yeah, I'm, probably just coming down with something.'

Suddenly the car swerved slightly and Lauren jumped as she felt Denise's hand on her forehead.

'Denise! Both hands on the wheel.'

'You're burning up, do you wanna stop and see if we can buy something for it?'

She batted Denise's hand away and tried to act natural.

'No I'll be fine.'

Lauren took to looking out the window as she knew the whole car was staring at her. She was trying to convince herself that this was just a temporary thing and that it would go away eventually. However she knew this was probably pointless.

Finally they pulled into the driveway of the Spa Resort and parked. Lauren pushed open the door and breathed in the fresh air. She did feel slightly better now and she smiled as she watched the others pull the suitcases out of the car. Once they were ready they all walked into the lobby. Julia, who had booked the weekend walked over to the check-in desk whilst the other four looked around. However Lauren smiled as Jaime almost ran up to her and put her hands on her bump and smiled.

'Have you felt them moving yet?'

Lauren smiled and watched as Denise and Meredith also came over.

'No not yet.'

'Lauren, call one Denise.'

They all laughed at Denise's serious expression. Lauren looked at her until they shared a knowing smile.

'But what if they're both boys?'

'So? Denise could be a boy's name!'

They all fell about laughing as Julia walked back over. Still giggling they walked over to the elevator and went up to their rooms. Julia had booked them two double rooms which meant one of them would be sleeping on the pull out sofa. They reached the rooms and stopped.

'Okay whose sleeping where?'

Everyone looked round at each other. It was clear no one wanted to sleep on the sofa. Finally Jaime sighed.

'I'll sleep on the sofa.'

Lauren smiled, once that was decided the other four split themselves up easily with Lauren and Julia in the same room as Jaime and Meredith and Denise in the other. They waved good bye to each other and went into their rooms to settle in. Lauren, Julia and Jaime went into their room and put their bags down. Lauren took her jacket off and lay down on the bed.

'Seriously Lauren, how the hell have you been able to hide that?'

Lauren looked down at the bump; she had bought some baggy clothes over the past few weeks as the bump had appeared. Not because she wanted to hide her pregnancy but because things were complicated, there was the big topic of if they told the fans. Because if they found out there would be so many questions and Lauren felt she wasn't ready for them. They had down a Glow* livestream last week as she had sat with a pillow on lap the entire time so no one watching would question the unusual roundness of her stomach. Well, they could cross that bridge when they came to it. Lauren couldn't think any more on it as she was starting to feel sick again. However as Jaime opened up the spa schedule she sat up and tried to smile.

'Okay, so what do we want to do first?'

They ended up going for manicures first. It was nice to all sit around and catch up with each other. Lauren felt herself relaxing; she had been so stressed recently. There was a lot of planning that went into having twins. It was also emotionally draining, more than once she'd almost given Joe a heart attack by just bursting into tears over the smallest of things. However Lauren was still excited for their arrival and she knew that no matter how much planning they did, there would still be surprises but she was looking forward to them.

* * *

A few hours later and the girls were back in their rooms getting ready to go to the hotel restaurant for dinner. However Lauren didn't feel well at all, she'd already thrown up twice which she thought was odd as she hadn't had nausea for weeks. She sighed and sat up on the bed, sounds of Jaime and Julia in the bathroom putting on make-up drifted into the room. The thought of eating was turning Lauren's stomach and the last thing she wanted to do was leave the room. Finally Jaime and Julia came back out into the room and looked at her, the concern was clear on their faces.

'Are you sure you're okay Lo?'

'Yeah, I'm sure it's just a 24 hour bug thing.'

'Well if you still feel ill tomorrow we are taking you to a doctor.'

Lauren tried to protest but the determined look on Julia's face stopped her. She waved goodbye to them and heard the door click shut behind them. She sat in the silence for a few moments before slowly standing up and walking over to get the TV remote. Her whole body was aching, she'd grown use to it over the past few weeks but today the aches seemed to have intensified. Finally she made it back to the bed and turned on the TV. She settled herself in for a night of trashy TV.

She decided to have an early night so was already asleep when Jaime and Julia came back. However she knew they were back as she spent most of the night tossing and turning, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get comfortable so couldn't. She felt so strange and the feeling was beginning to scare her. After a few more moments she sighed and pulled back the covers before standing up.

Lauren walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. She looked awful, her face was ghostly white and her hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat. What was happening? She felt so queasy. Suddenly a pain shot through her abdomen and she bent over double and gasped. It had felt like...it had felt like a contraction.

'No.'

She felt her whole body start to shake. No. They couldn't come yet, they wouldn't survive. As another contraction hit, she slid to the floor and wrapped her arms around her little baby bump. It was then that she noticed the wetness on her thighs, she looked down and saw all the blood and whimpered. What if she was miscarrying?

'Julia.'

She could barely get her voice above a whisper. The pain was unbearable and it wasn't long before the tears fell down her face. She couldn't lose them. The day after she got back from the spa weekend she and Joe were going for their second scan to find out the genders of the twins.

'Julia!'

Her voice broke on the end of the name as she coughed out a sob. Lauren tried to crawl to the door but she couldn't move. Each new wave of pain was worse than the last; it was making her feel so dizzy. She was really sobbing now and she was scared, she was so scared. She wished Joe was here, he was so far away that if she was losing them he  
wouldn't make it in time. With the last of her strength she called out one last time.

'Julia.'

* * *

Julia sat up in bed and looked at her phone. It was 2:30am. She'd had such a strange dream, all through it she'd thought she could hear Lauren calling her. However as she looked down to her left and saw the other half of the double bed was empty and then saw the light from the bathroom spilling out onto the carpet, she realised with a sickening feeling that it wasn't a dream at all. This was confirmed when she heard a tiny sob and within seconds she had jumped out of bed and was running towards the door.

'Lo?'

There was no answer. Julia rounded the corner and her mind went into overdrive. Lauren was kneeling on the floor with her arms wrapped around herself. Julia's heart skipped a beat as she saw the blood stains, this couldn't be happening, Lauren was past the real danger point of miscarriage. She felt herself start to panic as Lauren squeezed her eyes shut and screamed. Julia moved and knelt down next to her.

'Lo you need to breathe.'

* * *

Lauren tried to do as Julia said but the pain was too intense and she gritted her teeth to stop another scream.

'Juls I don't wanna lose them.'

'And you won't, just try and relax.'

She knew she was past the point of trying to relax. She could feel her heart fluttering as the panic set in. There was movement out in the bedroom and a second later Jaime appeared in the doorway. Lauren heard her gasp but couldn't look at her as her vision was blurring.

'Jaime call reception and get them to call 911.'

* * *

Julia was trying to stay calm but she could feel her hands were beginning to shake. Jaime seemed to be frozen to the spot staring at the scene before her. They were running out of time and if they didn't act now they were at risk of losing both the twins and Lauren.

'Jaime now!'

She was relieved as this spurred Jaime into action and she dashed back into the room. And within a few moments Julia could hear her talking on the phone in a hurried voice. Slowly she looked back at Lauren, her face was bright red and her checks were wet with tears. Julia watched as Lauren held her breath before whimpering. She opened her eyes and  
looked up at her.

'Julia...'

'Lo you need to stay calm; getting yourself worked up is going to make things worse.'

She rubbed Lauren's back as she nodded but Julia still saw the fresh tears fall down her face. Julia knew it would destroy both Lauren and Joe if they lost the twins so with all of her strength Julia prayed that everything would be all right.

* * *

Lauren could barely look up as she heard Jaime let the ETs into the room. She was convinced she had lost them; there was just so much blood. The pain still felt like white hot fire ripping across her abdomen but she was almost becoming numb to it. The ETs knelt around her but she just stared into space.

'Okay, where are you feeling the pain?'

'Here.'

She placed a hand on the lower half of her bump and then moved it as one of the ETs placed her hands on it and felt the positions of the twins.

'How many weeks are you?'

'18.'

A wave of pain hit her and she cried out. As the pain stabbed through she felt her breathing increase and her heart begin to race.

'You need to try and keep calm. The babies can sense your distress and it'll make them become stressed too.'

She nodded and tried to control her breathing but it felt like her heart was going to burst out of her chest. The ET still had her hands on her abdomen and Lauren wished she knew was she was checking for.

'Okay Lauren, we need to move you to the gurney to take you out. Can you stand?'

Lauren tried to stand but the pain reared up and she screamed and fell back to the ground. Suddenly she felt arms under her and one of the ETs was carrying her out to the gurney. The pain was making her see spots in her vision and there was a thick fog in her mind. She was aware they had placed her on the gurney but then they injected her with a strong pain killer and everything became hazy.

* * *

Jaime bit nervously on her lip as she waited for Denise and Meredith to answer their door. Finally a sleepy looking Denise opened the door.

'Jaime, what...'

'Lauren's having to go to hospital, there's a problem with the twins.'

She saw Denise's eyes grow wide before she quickly dashed back into the room and came back with Meredith. Jaime led them out into the lobby as Lauren was already in the ambulance. She felt sick with worry. They all stood around the doors, Julia was sat inside as she was going with her.

'Someone call Joe.'

Before Jaime could answer the doors were slammed shut. They watched the ambulance drive away before looking at each other.

'Jaime you can call him.'

She pulled a face. Why did she have to call him? She didn't want to call him because she'd heard how panicked he'd sounded when she'd joked in the car yesterday. However someone had to tell him so she followed Meredith and Denise back up to their rooms. Once they were all sat in Jaime's room she took a breath and made the call.

* * *

Joe slowly opened his eyes as he heard his phone ringing. Who was ringing at this time? He reached for his phone and answered without looking who it was.

'Hello?'

'Joe, it's Jaime.'

'Jaime? Do you know what time it is?'

'I know but I think you need to get out here. Lauren's been taken to hospital.'

He sat straight up in bed and pulled the covers back. Hundreds of questions ran through his head. Was something wrong with her? Was something wrong with the twins? He knew it had been a bad idea for her to go.

'Jaime, why has she gone to hospital?'

There was silence on the other end. It was so deathly quiet that before Jaime answered Joe knew what she was going to say.

'She might be miscarrying.'

'What do you mean might be?'

'She's bleeding heavily and having contractions pains so they need to find out what's going on. Listen Joe just get here as fast as you can.'

Joe quickly hung up the phone and pulled on the nearest pair of jeans and t-shirt he could find. In his haste it took him two attempts to tie up his shoes but finally he was ready to go and almost ran out of his apartment. He fumbled with his car keys and then was finally in the car. He keyed in the address and was off.

At this time of night the streets were almost empty. He kept his eyes on the road and was probably for most of the journey way over the speed limit. He tried not the think as he speeded along because he didn't want to think. He couldn't think about the fact that by the time he got there, they could have lost their twins. The thought stabbed at him like a knife. He didn't want her to go through it alone. How could this be happening? Her pregnancy had been going well. They didn't even know what the genders were. As Joe thought this, he gritted his teeth and put his foot on the gas.

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I know this chapter was probably a little heavy on the feels…sorry about that, see you soon!_


	18. Pink or Blue?

_A/N: Sorry this chapter is short but it's happy! :') I cut a bit but that's because I really do feel I went a little too far in the last chapter. Sorry about the last chapter._

_Sami- sam99: Yeah and haha yeah she kinda is XD_

_Definitivebliss: Aww sorry for making you sad, this isn't sad :')_

_1katiemariee: Oh gosh I'm so sorry if this brought up bad memories for you. I promise there won't be anything else sad in it._

_TearsOfaClown: Hope the feels weren't too much! This chapter is happy!_

_Obsessed31: Sorry! :'(_

_StarkidPD: Sorry! And I couldn't do that! And I'm glad you like it :') and yes! I converted you! :D_

_Guest: I hope it lives up to your expectations!_

_Guest: Glad you like it!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Hope you enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren was lying on her side with her eyes closed. She wasn't asleep but she felt happier with them closed. The twins were okay. They both had increased heart rates but that was because they had shared in her stress. A warm, fuzzy sensation swept through her, she had heard their heartbeats. It had sounded so strange but it had been the most wonderful thing in the world. She only wished Joe had been there to hear it but she knew he was on his way. She knew he must be freaking out as the girls had tried calling him saying the twins were fine but he wasn't answering. The doctors didn't really know what had happened. They'd said that false labour was common during pregnancy although they were surprised by the strength of her contractions. They had been worried about the bleeding but seeing as it hadn't affected the twins they weren't looking any further into it.

She sighed and rolled onto her back. The hospital room was quiet around her so she guessed Julia had left her to sleep. Even though the bleeding and contractions had stopped now they were keeping her in for observation for the next few days. She slowly brought her hand down to her bump and smiled.

'You two haven't even arrived yet and already you've got everyone running round after you.'

She traced little circles across the bump with her finger and smiled. It had been so scary but everything was okay now. All she wanted to do now was see Joe; she wanted their little family to be together again. She sighed and hoped she wouldn't have to wait too long.

Lauren sat up as the door slowly opened. Her heart skipped a beat as she saw Joe was stood there. They looked at each other for a few moments before Joe almost ran over to her and a few seconds later he pulled her into a tight hug. Lauren suddenly felt tears in her eyes as he hugged her. It all suddenly came back how close they had been to losing them. Finally Joe pulled back and she saw there were tears in his eyes too.

'So everything's okay?'

'Yep, we're good, just a random occurrence.'

She smiled as Joe laughed at this; however she could tell he was still panicked as he hugged her again. He sat down on the bed next to her and put an arm around her. After a moment Lauren felt him lean back against the pillows so slowly she entwined her fingers in his and brought their clasped hands down onto the bump. She smiled up at him.

'They're just fine.'

* * *

Joe brought his lips down to hers and kissed her. Relief was washing over him. The twins were okay, Lauren was okay. As they kissed he felt himself relaxing and their kissed became deeper. He pushed his tongue against her teeth and she let him in and their tongues entwined. He thought back over the horrific car journey. He had been convinced that when he arrived it would have been too late. He had rushed into the hospital thinking the worse but then had finally found Julia and after shouting at him that he should answer his phone she had hugged him and told him the amazing news that Lauren was okay.

All too soon Lauren pulled away from him but she rested her head on his chest. Joe rested his chin on her head and they sat in silence.

'Seeing as we're not going to make it to our scan appointment, they said if we want, we can have a scan here.'

'Really?'

She had felt Joe's arm tense around her and it made her smile slightly.

'Yeah, we can find out the genders of our little twinies.'

* * *

Lauren smiled to herself, she couldn't believe they were going to find out. Slowly, she looked up at Joe, he smiled down at her and without having to think Lauren brought her lips back up to his and kissed him slowly.

A few hours later and they were in a scan room. Lauren was already sat on the bed and Joe was sat next to her. She was nervous, now that it had come down to it; she was almost scared to find out. She bit her lip and stared into space but blinked and turned around as she felt a hand slip into hers. Joe was smiling at her and gave her hand a squeeze. She squeezed back and looked away as the sonographer came into the room.

'Sorry about the wait.'

'It's fine.'

* * *

The sonographer turned on the machine and turned to look at Lauren expectedly. Joe watched as she pulled her top up. Without any layers covering it, the bump was really visible. He smiled to himself; it still didn't seem quite real. He was going to be a dad and in a few moments he'd know the genders of his two little babies. The sonographer put the gel onto the bump and then placed the probe onto it.

'Okay, let's see what these little babies are.'

Joe felt himself hold his breath as the sonographer continued to look at the screen. After what seemed like an age, the sonographer smiled and turned the screen round. Joe felt a tingle down his spine as he saw the image. They had grown so much since the last scan. The sonographer moved the probe to the side so one of the twins was more in focus than the other.

'We've got baby A here and she's a little girl.'

She quickly moved the probe to the other side of the bump so the other twin was in focus.

'And baby B is also a girl!'

* * *

Lauren felt her heart skip a beat. Twins girls. She turned to Joe and beamed at him and laughed as she saw he looked a little shocked but was smiling back at her. She remembered their conversation in the car on the way to their first scan, before they'd known about the twins. Joe had said he hoped the baby was girl and now they were having two. Lauren felt so happy and she felt so excited. The sonographer let them look at their twins for a few more moments before turning off the machine. She felt like she was in a dream as she wiped the gel off her baby bump and they were on their way back to her room.

Once she was settled back into bed, she finally let out all her excited emotions and squealed. Joe jumped at the sudden noise and fell off his chair; this made Lauren laugh even more. She laughed until her sides hurt and whenever she glanced at Joe as he got back down she burst into new fits of giggles.

'I don't appreciate you laughing at me Lopez.'

'Well you fell over!'

'You screamed!'

'I have a right too! We're having twin girls!'

She smiled as Joe smiled to. She watched as he stood up, walked over and pulled her into a hug. She closed her eyes and sighed happily. Although she quickly opened her eyes as the door burst open and Julia, Denise, Jaime and Meredith came into the room. Her eyes met Julia's and she saw her sheepish expression.

'Sorry guys, I may have accidentally called them and told them you were having the gender scan.'

Lauren felt Joe sit down on the bed next to her as the four girls surrounded the bed. All four were staring at her expectantly.

'So? What are you having?'

* * *

Joe caught Lauren's eye as she turned to smile at him. He knew she was taking great joy in leaving the girls hanging. He still couldn't believe they were both girls, he'd always had a feeling they would be but now it was confirmed! Finally he heard Lauren sigh as she got ready to speak.

'They're both…girls!'

He squeezed his eyes shut for a second as the four girls screamed and moved forward to hug Lauren. Joe almost fell on the floor again as Denise gave him a well-placed shove to the chest in her haste to hug Lauren. He stepped back but saw Lauren quickly look at him, he remembered that she was currently in hospital and probably all the hugging wasn't the best thing for her. He looked at her for a few moments before stepping in.

'Guys, try not to squash my girlfriend.'

However this seemed to make them remember his was in the room and within seconds he had been flattened against the wall as the four girls moved to hug him instead. He looked sideways at Lauren and saw she was giggling.

'Congratulations Joe!'

'You're gonna be outnumbered three to one!'

'Imagine what it's going to be like having two teenage girls!'

He finally managed to push them all away but not before hugging them all and smiling at their comments. They slowly all moved to chairs and sat down. Joe sat back down on the bed next to Lauren and put his arm around her. They sat in silence but it was a happy silence and everyone was smiling, until Denise spoke.

'But you know what two girls mean, you can call them Denise and Marie.'

* * *

_A/N: Until next time you lovely people!_


	19. Shopping

_A/N: I'm sorry it's been a while but I've been having a hard time this bad week and I'm sorry it's short but I dunno haha anyway enjoy it!_

_sami-sam99: Haha I'm sure they wouldn't mind XD_

_Obsessed31: I couldn't have done anything too sad :')_

_StarkidPD: Yay! And I hope you like this!_

_Me: Aww thank you! And I'll try and update more often :')_

_1katiemariee: Bahahaha wouldn't everyone like to hug tackle Joe against a wall ;)_

_Enna: You're welcome :D_

_Thecocaptainofthefriendship: Aww thank you! And I love you too! :D_

_TearsOfaClown: Yay! *dances*_

_Pigfartsranger: Haha thank you!_

_Evilmothergoose: I'm sorry I haven't been updating! :'( I hope this makes up for it!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Joe pushed open the door to Lauren's room. She had her back to him and was busy putting the last of her things into her bag. Two days after the incident they were finally discharging her. Joe had insisted on staying and driving her home, he said it was so the other girls could go home yesterday I planned but really he just didn't want to let Lauren out of his sight again. He already knew he wanted to ask her to move in with him but he hadn't been able to summon up the courage yet to ask her. He knew he probably had to do it within the next month as they had to start getting things ready for the twins' arrival but it was scary. He shook himself and came out of his thoughts as Lauren finally turned around. She had on a loose fitting top and it just about hid her bump, although the slightest curve was still just about visible. As she noticed him she smiled and walked over and gave him a hug.

'I won't miss this place.'

'Yeah, we'll get you back home soon enough.'

He heard her laugh slightly before she pulled away. He moved around her and picked up her bag. It struck him as odd that she rolled her eyes.

'God Joe, you too? Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm not capable enough to carry my own bag!'

Joe blinked and stared at her blankly. Why did she sound so annoyed?

'Erm…I would have carried you bag anyway, you being pregnant has nothing to do with it.'

'Oh my god! You are such a gentleman! What are you, a 16th century British Lord?'

Lauren left the room but it wasn't long before she started giggling. She looked around as Joe came out of the room. He looked confused but quickly smiled as he saw she was laughing. She smiled even more as he shook his head.

'You are too cheeky for your own good Lopez.'

She smiled and walked over to hug him again, having his warm, strong arms around him made her feel so safe. Finally she pulled away and looked up at him.

'We're going to be alright, aren't we Joe?'

'What do you mean? Oh course we will.'

'But are the twins going to be okay? Will we do a good job of raising them?'

She looked up at Joe as he stared back at her. She carried on looking at him as he lifted up one hand and pulled a stray piece of hair off her face. He seemed to be thinking about what to say. Lauren had been thinking about this topic for a few months now. She was worried she wouldn't do a good job and wouldn't give the twins the life they deserved.

'Lo, you're going to make a great mom. You are an amazing and caring person and if you are just yourself our two little girls are going to think you're the best mom ever…until you become that mom who doesn't understand what it's like to be a teenager.

Lauren laughed at the last part. Hearing Joe say those things made her feel so much better. She rested her head on his chest and they stood like that for a moment. Finally they looked back up at each other. Joe picked up her bag and Lauren slipped her hand into his. Everything was going to be alright. They would do a good job and they'd be doing it together. They walked to the end of the corridor and headed to the car lot.

Joe pulled the car into a space at the shopping mall. He smiled as Lauren looked around.

'Joe, I'm pretty sure this isn't my building.'

'I know, but I thought it was about time we decked our kids out in some threads.'

He smiled as Lauren closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.

'Please stop talking.'

He beamed as she looked up at him and smiled. She leant towards him and within a few moments their lips met. It was a gently kiss but their lips lingered on each other's.

'Come on, I'm giving you full reign on my bank card.'

Lauren smiled as they got out of the car. They walked over to the entrance and went inside. It was a week day so it wasn't very busy and they soon found their way to the baby store. Lauren felt overwhelmed by everything. Suddenly she was thinking of all the things they would have to buy, and the fact that a lot of the things they'd have to buy double of. Holy shit. It seemed to be hitting her all over again that she was having twins. She couldn't have twins, people said one baby was bad enough. She felt Joe squeeze her hand and realised her breathing was almost ragged. She smiled at him slightly and tried to control her breathing.

'We don't have to buy all the big things just yet, let's just start off small.'

She nodded and let Joe lead her over to the aisles of baby clothes. She still felt ripples of panic run her as she stared at all the racks of little baby outfits.

'Where do we start?'

She looked at Joe as she realised he wasn't answering. It appeared that now they had gotten over here he was stumped too as to what to pick. There were baby grows and little onsies. Knowing they were having girls made it a little easier but there were still dresses and skirts in all colours to choose from.

'I'd know that look a mile off. First time parents?'

They both looked round at the shop assistant who was stood just a little way away from them. She was smiling at them and Lauren couldn't help but smile sheepishly at her. What expression must her and Joe have been pulling? Lauren nodded and the assistant moved to closer to them.

'Ah! So when's the baby due?'

'Erm, the babies are due in just about 4 months.'

'More than one? Oh lucky you!'

Joe smiled as the assistant almost danced about with excited. He watched as she moved towards the racks of clothes and moved along them.

'Okay, from the looks on your faces we're starting from the beginning.'

She pulled off a few packs of new born baby; baby grows and held them out to them.

'Word of advice, tell all your friends and family to buy clothes that are sized 3 months and over. You two focus on getting the clothes for the first three months otherwise you're going to end up with enough clothes to open up your own store by the time your babies are 4 months.'

Joe nodded and slowly took the packs off her. The baby grows were simple whites and creams, they looked so small, were the twins really going to be this tiny?

'Do you know the genders?'

He looked at Lauren before smiling. She was still staring in awe at all the clothes but she was smiling to herself.

'They're both girls.'

The shop assistant smiled before looking up and down the racks again. Joe watched as Lauren pulled off a pack of baby grows that were a light pink with flowers on. They were really pretty and as Joe scanned the other packs he knew they were the prettiest in the store.

'Ahh, that design is very popular.'

Lauren smiled, it was a pack of four, meaning there'd be two for each baby. She looked at the ones Joe was holding, they were all so pretty and she just couldn't decide. After a moment she took a breath, everything looked so cute but they were baby clothes and they needed some but they didn't need every single thing the store carried.

'Do you know what else you need?'

She laughed, they really had no idea. Her eyes kept flicking to the next aisle over where they were about 5 racks of socks. She turned to look at Joe and laughed again. She drew a hand over her bump, it was pretty well rounded now, however she still couldn't quite believe it would still get bigger.

'We pretty much have no idea.'

'How about I show you what other first time parents normally buy?'

Lauren and Joe nodded and they set off after the shop assistant. And a few hours later they were walking back through the shopping mall with two bags of new clothes. They were pretty much set now for the first few weeks after the girls' birth. Well clothes wise, they still needed to buy cribs and a pram and everything else but at least they had made a start. She smiled and looked at Joe as he stopped.

'Do you want to get something to eat?'

'Sure.'

They walked over to a small café and found a seat. Once they had chosen and paid for their food they took a seat. Joe stirred his coffee quickly in the hopes Lauren wouldn't see his hand was shaking. This was the moment he was going to ask her to move in with him. He needed to before they started buying baby furniture as then they could buy it and set it up at his house.

'Joe is something wrong?'

He looked up at her and saw the concern in her eyes. He realised he had been staring at her for probably longer than normal. After a moment he took a breath and tried to speak but couldn't, so he tried again and finally.

'Erm…Lauren, I-I was wondering if-if…'

'If?'

'If you know, before the girls arrive, you-you would want to…move in with me.'

He stared into his coffee as he spoke. What had he had to choose that sentence to lose the power of speech? After a few seconds Lauren's hand came into view and she placed it on top of his.

'Joe…Joe.'

He slowly looked up at her. It had been the wrong thing to say, he shouldn't have said it. They hadn't been going out long enough.'

'I'm sorry, I…'

'I'd love to.'

Joe stopped as she spoke. Had she just said yes? He noticed she was smiling at him. She had, she wanted to move in. He smiled back at her.

'So I better starting packing then.'

* * *

_A/N: Bye!_


	20. Moving Day

_A/N: Hey! So this is longer and I updated sooner! Yay :')_

_1katiemariee: Bahahaha XD that should so be a new song! And haha and is it bad to admit that I spent a lot of time over the summer walking round Manchester trying to find DanIsNotOnFire and AmazingPhil XD_

_StarkidPD: Hehe yeah it's all cute XD and I'm sooner this time! :D_

_sami-sam99: :') hehe_

_TearOfaClown: I know right! :D_

_my beautiful idiot: Aww thank you! And Laurwalk overload! XD and bahahaha there's just too many feels!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

Lauren looked around her room and sighed. She'd had over a month to pack up her things and yet she was still packing at the 9pm the night before she had to leave. For a moment she stood still before resting a hand on her bump, she still wasn't use to the twins' little moments. Well she said little; sometimes it felt like they were having a soccer tournament. She sat down on her bed and thought back over the long day.

**Earlier today**

Joe walked into Lauren room and looked around. It didn't look any different from the last time he'd been in.

'Have you even started packing?'

He looked around as Lauren walked in. She looked embarrassed by his question and didn't look at him.

'I already have three boxes packed.'

'You cannot have this much stuff, you're like a hoarder.'

He smiled as she glared at him before moving over to wrap up something in bubble wrap.

'Well a lot of stuff is going in storage; I just need to have the room empty for Jaime.'

Joe nodded before looking around to see what he could do. Jaime was meant to be moving in the day after tomorrow but that all counted on if they got Lauren moved out tomorrow, which at this point he highly doubted they would. He walked over to her bed and pulled out the boxes that were underneath it. He busied himself sorting through a box which seemed to just contain empty notebooks she'd collected over the years when he stopped. Shoved down the side of the box in what he could only think was an attempt to hide them, were two pregnancy tests. Joe held them both up and looked at the positive results.

'Oh, I'd forgotten about them.'

He came out of his daydream and looked up at Lauren. She had stopped wrapping and was looking at him. Joe slowly looked down at the tests again and he still didn't look up as he felt her sitting down next to him.

'How long did you know before you told me?'

'I took the first test two days before we opened and then the second the day before, but I kind of already knew. I was nearly two months late and was throwing up pretty much every day but I just wasn't ready to believe it.'

Lauren stared intently at Joe and eventually he looked at her. His eyes looked so guilty and they almost seemed to be shimmering.

'Lo, I'm so sorry.'

'For what?'

'For leaving.'

She held back a gasp as she saw a tear fall down his face. He was crying. Joe Walker didn't cry. She thought they were past the fact he had left. To Lauren it felt like months ago, well maybe that was because she had done her best to forget that month but looking at Joe she knew those memories were still very vivid for him. She pulled the pregnancy tests out of his hands and pulled him into a tight hug, which was difficult, given her increasingly large bump but she didn't anyway. She held whilst his whole body shook with sobs. Finally he stopped and slowly pulled back from her. Lauren moved closer to him and held his hands.

'I won't lie Joe, it broke my heart when you left but if I hadn't whole heartedly forgiven you, you wouldn't be sat here now. I love you, so much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You, me and our two little girls.'

Joe stared back at the little brunette in front of him. She looked so determined. What had he done to deserve such an amazing girlfriend? He should have never been given the right to call her his girlfriend after what he had done to her and yet here she was and he loved her so much. They had their lives ahead of them and they could live out their lives together.

'I love you too.'

He closed his eyes as Lauren leant forward and kissed him. He opened his mouth and their tongues entwined. The kiss seemed to last forever and Joe would have been happy if it had as in that moment nothing in the world mattered except for Lauren. Finally they pulled away as there was a cough from the doorway.

'That's some pretty hard core packing you're doing there.'

Joe rubbed his eyes quickly as Julia gave them a knowing smile from the doorway. He looked at Lauren and saw she was blushing slightly but there was a smile playing about her lips.

'As much as I don't want to interrupt your intimate moment we really need to get packing.'

They both nodded and stood up. The three spent the rest of the day happily packing up Lauren's things. Lauren still couldn't quite believe she was moving out. She and Julia were splitting up, it felt so strange that she would no longer see her best friend every day. Even though she was excited to move in with Joe so was sad to be leaving Julia, it felt like the end of an era.

* * *

The next day was absolute chaos. Somehow Lauren had managed to get most of her things packed up last night and now her room was mostly empty. Joe had already taken some boxes to the self-storage unit and some of the others were busy packing up Brian's car with things to take to Joe's apartment. Of course they had refused to let Lauren help so she was currently sat on the bare mattress of her soon to be old bed. This was it, she felt like she was leaving her parents' house all over again. She was scared. She looked up as Julia came into the room and it was only then that she felt the tears on her face.

'Sweetie, are you okay?'

'I don't want to move out.'

She buried her head in her hands but before long she felt Julia sitting down next to her and putting her arms around her.

'I know it's scary Lo but this is just the next big adventure.'

'Can you not come with me?'

Lauren knew she was being silly but it had suddenly hit her that moving in with her boyfriend came at the cost of leaving her best friend. She looked up at Julia as she heard her laugh and Lauren couldn't help but laugh too.

'We'll still see each other because I'll be round every day trying to kidnap your little girls.'

She laughed again and hugged Julia tightly. Things wouldn't be so bad, they would just be different. She smiled and wiped her eyes before watching Julia stand up.

'Come on, the car's all packed up.'

She nodded and stood up before following Julia out of her room, before she left she took one last look at her room and said a silent goodbye.

Joe held open the door as everyone filed out. They had had a sort of impromptu party for Lauren's moving and it had been nice to have everyone together for a few hours. There were already plans to do the same for Jaime tomorrow but Joe was already shattered after one day of moving. What was he going to be like tomorrow night after a whole new day of hectic moving? Finally he looked around as he saw almost everyone had left and now there was just Julia stood in the hallway.

'Okay Joe, you have to promise me you'll look after her or I'll be straight back round here to take her home.'

'Of course I will.'

He smiled before hugging Julia. After a moment she pulled back and pulled her best friend into a tight hug.

'Now I know it's going to be stressful living with a boy so if you ever need anything, call me.'

Lauren giggled at Julia's comment and laughed even more as she looked over Julia's shoulder and saw Joe's bemused expression. Finally Julia pulled away and slowly walked out of the door. Lauren waved as Joe closed the door. She looked slowly up at him and smiled as he pulled her into a hug.

'So this is it then. I have to put up with you every day now.'

She smiled and patted him lightly on his shoulder. She rested her head against his chest before yawning.

'I'm tired.'

'Me too and we have to be up early to help Jaime move.'

'Yeah.'

From the way she held on the syllable, he knew she was sleepy. He smiled and kissed her on the top of her head before holding her at arms' length.

'Go to bed and I'll be in, in a minute.'

He smiled at her as she smiled back before slowly walking into the bedroom. Joe looked on after her for a moment before walking into the kitchen.

Joe turned on the dishwasher and then stood in the kitchen for a moment. He'd been so busy today with making sure Lauren moved in okay that he hadn't actually thought about the long term. They were living together now, Lauren had spent nights over the past few months but it all suddenly felt so serious, they had 3 months to go. He took a deep breath and walked through to the bedroom.

He stood in the doorway for a moment and watched Lauren. She was sat cross legged in her t-shirt and shorts pyjama set on the bed, pulling her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head. They made maternity clothes for everything now so Lauren's pyjama t-shirt hugged nicely to the curve of her bump and suited her so well. After a moment she looked up at him and smiled. Joe smiled back before pulling off his t-shirt and pants. He could feel Lauren's eyes on him as he walked to his side of the bed but kept his eyes down. However as he tried to pull back to covers to get in, Lauren fell sideways, pinning the covers to the bed and beamed up at him.

'You aren't making this very easy.'

'Mr Walker are you calling me difficult?'

Lauren's tone was playful as she smiled up at Joe. She loved the way his blue eyes glowed when he smiled. She swayed slightly as he pulled at the covers a few more times and just as he gave up she sat up and giggled at him. However her playful mood disappeared slightly when one of the twins gave her an almighty kick. As she shuffled to her side of the bed she rubbed her side before looking at Joe and saw he looked concerned.

'The twins are very active tonight.'

Joe smiled as he slipped under the covers. Whenever Lauren mentioned that she could feel them moving it made him feel so excited. He remembered the first time a month or so ago that he'd put his hand on her bump and felt them moving, for the first time and it had been so amazing, especially since they had come so close to losing them. He sat up in bed and Lauren instantly crawled to the middle of the bed and took hold of his hand. She placed it on her side and held it there for a few moments before Joe felt a little kick. He smiled at her and saw she was beaming back. For a few moments he held her gaze before leaning forward and kissing her. She kissed him back but Joe felt her smile against his lips as he felt one of the twins give another kick. This was such a special moment, their first night of living together. Finally she pulled away but only to get under the covers so Joe used this opportunity to lie down and turn off his bedside lamp, plunging the room into darkness. After a few seconds he felt Lauren snuggling up next to him so he put one arm around her and rested the other on the bump again.

Lauren sighed, she was suddenly so sleepily. Being in Joe's warm embrace was quickly sending her off. She felt so content and happy right now. However just as she closed her eyes, Joe spoke.

'We need to start properly thinking of baby names.'

She didn't open her eyes but she couldn't pretend she was asleep. Since they had bought the baby names book they still hadn't gotten any closer to finding two names. Even when they had found out they were having two girls they hadn't gotten anywhere as she knew Joe had been and still was, worried that something bad would happen again and she'd end up in hospital so she guessed he had been worried about jinxing it. The thought of baby names still scared her and everyone was giving their own suggestions on what the twins should be called and it was freaking her out.

'Well, Denise has said that if we don't call them Denise and Marie she's disowning us as friends.'

She felt Joe shake as he suppressed a laugh and she smiled as well. Denise was being insistent that the twins would be called those names.

'I like Rosie.'

Joe finally spoke aloud the name he'd been thinking about for weeks. Whenever he'd thought of names he'd always come back to Rosie. It had a nice ring to it, Rosie Walker. Suddenly he realised how long the silence between them was lasting and was worried that maybe Lauren didn't like the name, but then.

'Yeah, Rosie sounds nice.

He felt his heart soar. Lauren liked it too! He could tell she was sleepy as her breathing was getting deeper and deeper but as he squeezed her, he felt her nestle against his shoulder in response.

'Well, we're one down, any ideas what to name Rosie's sister?'

Lauren didn't know why but Rosie really did feel right. As soon as Joe had said it she'd said it over and over and each time she had, it had sounded more right. However they weren't just having one, they still had to think of another name. She felt like they were back to square one again. However a name suddenly came to her. Katelyn. Rosie and Katelyn.

'What about Katelyn?'

'Beautiful.'

She smiled up at him, even though they were in darkness. They'd done it, two names for their little girls and then something else came to Lauren. Middle names. The two names just fell into place behind Rosie and Katelyn.

'And hey Joe, how about these for middle names?'

She whispered them in his ear and heard him laugh slightly.

'Those sound perfect.'

* * *

_A/N: Bye guys!_


	21. A Little Duet

_A/N: Bonjour! So I can update as I got this written during a rehearsal I had today! Yeah it took us like an hour to block on groups entrance. XD and I'm just a guest at the party so I was like poop this! And just started writing on my iPod whilst on stage XD one of the teachers was like 'you don't see phones in the sound of music!' (that's what we're doing XD) and also I've somehow ended up dancing and like the sixth form's chaplaincy is also in the dancing scene so the musical cast is made up of 16-18 years olds and then one like 40 year dude XD although, even though we're in the north of England, our chaplaincy is from Michigan so I guess we can let him off XD_

_Anyway enough about me!_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe it took my friend and I like a week to pick them XD and I know! :D_

_1katiemariee: Woo! Haha and I worked out where they use to live in Manchester XD and bahahaha XD_

_StarkidPD: Hehe I fangirled whilst writing it XD and you'll know soon enough… :D_

_Pigfartsisreal: Yay! Glad you like it! And hehe and bahahaha that would be funny XD_

_sami-sam99: In regards to the boy, I think you're thinking of 1katiemariee's fic Returning To Chicago :') and no it's not done yet! :D_

_Okay I feel this chapter is kinda just a little Laurwalk fluff :D_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy :D_

* * *

Joe slowly woke up but didn't open his eyes. He still couldn't believe Lauren was living with him now. He smiled to himself and opened his eyes a little. He expected to see Lauren but the other side of the bed was empty. What? Joe sat bolt upright in bed. Where was she? Oh God, this was like the morning after they first slept together all over again. Had she run away again? She couldn't have done. He slowly got up and listened. He could hear noise coming from somewhere in the apartment so set out to investigate it.

Joe's apartment had two bedrooms so they were converting the guest room into a nursery. He had already got rid all the furniture on Craigslist so now they needed to buy all the baby furniture. He looked at the door to the soon to be nursery, it was open slightly. The sounds he could hear seemed to be coming from there so he walked to the door and slowly opened it.

Lauren was sat on the floor of the room. She had been un-folding and re-folding the baby clothes they had already bought for the best part of two hours. She hadn't slept much last night, even though she had been tired. Eventually she had given up and decided to just get up. She smiled at the little piles of clothes. They were so pretty. She was so absorbed in them that she jumped as she heard a cough from behind her. She turned around and saw Joe smiling at her.

'Morning.'

She smiled as he sat down next to her and put his arms around her.

'Thought you'd run out on me again.'

She slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him gently. After a moment she slowly pulled back and looked at him.

'And why would I do that?'

Lauren smiled as Joe squeezed her. They looked at the clothes for a while. She felt so relaxed as Joe traced little circles on the bump with his finger. After a moment she looped her fingers into his.

'You know the doctor said we should talk or sing to them, so they get use to our voices.'

Joe couldn't see Lauren's face, but he was pretty sure he knew what expression on her face was.

'And what would you suggest we sing?'

He smiled even more as Lauren started singing Get Back Up. He held her as she sang and then when his part came he sang too. When they finally finished he heard her sigh happily. Joe smiled as with his hand rested on the bump he felt lots of little movements from the twins.

'I think there are two little people who want an encore.'

He laughed as she spoke. It really was amazing to think the little twins could hear them and were reacting to them.

'And they are going to have just as beautiful voices as their mother.'

'You're just as good a singer.'

He laughed to himself at this. Lauren was such a modest person and she never seemed to like taking big compliments, so she always fired back with one, even if it didn't make sense.

'Lo, seeing as I'm a guy I really hope they don't sound like me.'

Lauren laughed and patted him playfully. She knew what she meant. After a few more moments she looked at the clock before slowly starting to get up.

'Come on, we need to go help Jaime and the others.'

'You mean I need to go help, whilst you watch us all.'

She smiled at him before following him back to the bedroom. Most of her clothes were still in boxes so she searched through them to find what she was looking for, a purple maternity top with butterflies on. Joe beat her to the bathroom so and sat down on the bed and flicked through a baby catalogue.

They had decided they wanted White furniture for the nursery but the question was, what style of furniture did they get? Did they go for the modern or classic range? Just as she was debating between two prams (one said its wheels were strong enough to go mountain hiking) Joe walked into the room with a towel wrapped around him.

'I've narrowed it down to two prams, pick which one you like the most and I'll consider it your choice.'

She beamed at him as she pointed at the two prams before quickly walking out of the room. Joe shook his head in amusement before picking up the catalogue.

Once he was ready he walked into the kitchen and poured himself out some cereal. As he ate he looked through the catalogue and smiled at the things Lauren had circled or starred. He heard the shower turn off and then the sound of Lauren walking into the bedroom. He waited a few moments before walking towards the room.

When he reached the doorway he stopped. Lauren had her back to him and as he watched her slip her bra on he was suddenly struck by how beautiful she was. Not that Joe didn't know this already but every so often it hit him all over again. It seemed she was having trouble with the fastening so Joe crept forward and caught her hands in his and did it up.

'Joe!'

Lauren whipped around in surprise and looked at Joe. However she quickly looked away. She was going through a phrase where she felt pretty self-conscious at the moment. The main reason being, the stretch marks on her stomach. She knew they were just a normal part of pregnancy but she still didn't like them and she didn't like Joe seeing them. However, as she tried to move her hand to cover some of the worse ones, Joe caught it and held it.

'Lauren don't try and hide them.'

She pulled a face at Joe but eventually sighed.

'But they're ugly.'

'Says who?'

'Me.'

She looped her arms around Joe's neck as he slipped his around her waist. They faces were almost touching and Lauren closed her eyes as Joe kissed her. His lips were soft against his and as he pulled back Lauren felt her lips tingling.

'They are part of you and you are beautiful.'

She smiled and rested her head against his shoulder. He did know exactly what to say to make her feel better. The stretch marks would go away once the twins were born. They stood like that for a few moments, although with Lauren's now 6 month bump, she was almost stood sideways, but it was nice as being in his arms, she felt so much closer to both Joe and the twins.

'Come on, we need to get going.'

Lauren nodded before pulling away from Joe, she smiled at him as he left the room. Once he was gone she quickly pulled on her top and leggings and then began doing her hair. Once she was finished, she stood up, pulled on her jacket and left the room. She met Joe in the hallway and they left the apartment together.

Just as Lauren's move had been yesterday, Jaime's apartment was in chaos. Jaime and her old roommate were both moving out and going their separate ways so all of their personal things had to be cleared out. Lauren and Joe walked in just as Denise and Meredith were carrying a box out of the door. Lauren took Joe's hand and led him down the hall towards where she could hear Jaime's voice.

'Hey Jaime.'

'Oh hi!'

She smiled as Jaime hugged them both. Jaime instantly directed Joe into helping Brian carry a box before turning back to Lauren.

'Do you want a drink?'

Lauren raised her eyebrow at Jaime. She had come to help, not sit and do nothing. However, before she could answer Jaime grabbed her arm and pulled her into the kitchen. She leant against the counter and watched Jaime pick glasses out of a box.

'What do you want?'

'Just water please.'

She accepted the drink as Jaime handed it to her. Lauren could feel Jaime's eyes on her and for some reason it made her feel a little uneasy so she suddenly took a great interest in the wallpaper.

'So how was it?'

'How was what Jaime?'

'Your first night of living with your boyfriend.'

Lauren rolled her eyes and smiled. Jaime was almost jumping up and down from excitement. Although she was happy she was now living with Joe, it didn't feel that different, maybe it was because moving in with Joe just felt so natural.

'Well we did an outrageous thing, when we were tired and wanted to go to sleep, we slept in the same bed.'

She giggled as Jaime sighed in exasperation but Lauren had spoken the truth. They had just gone to sleep, well after they'd picked names for the girls. She and Joe had both agreed to keep the names a secret until the birth but even so she could tease Jaime a little with the news the twins now had names.

'Although, we did do something.'

'What?!'

'We picked names for the twins.'

Jaime let out a high pitched squeal, which Lauren was pretty sure dogs, four blocks away would be able to hear. The noise caused Julia to appear in the doorway looking panicked.

'What's the matter?'

'Lauren and Joe have named the twins!'

Lauren laughed as she was pulled into a tight hug by Julia. Julia then proceeded to jump around the kitchen with Jaime.

'What are their names?'

'We've decided not to tell anyone until they're born.'

Both Jaime and Julia stopped jumping at the same time. Lauren couldn't help but laugh as their expressions fell.

'But we're your best friends; we don't just count as anyone.'

Lauren beamed and shrugged her shoulders. Knowing something they didn't was such fun and she knew she would have lots of fun over the next few months by egging on their guesses. However it was Lauren's turn for her expression to fall as Jaime smiled a mischievous smile.

'Joe!'

She tried to hold them back as Jaime and Julia ran out of the room to find Joe. She knew Joe would probably crack sooner than she would she quickly walked after them. Following the sounds of Julia and Jaime's excited voices, she found them in the sitting room. They had cornered Joe and were pretty much just screaming at him. Their friends had all gathered in a circle around them and were watching with bemused expressions.

'Don't tell them Joe.'

'Tell us what?'

Joe looked over Jaime and Julia as Brian spoke. The sudden entrance of Julia and Jaime had surprised him at first but as he listened to their excited babbling, he realised they were talking about baby names. He slowly looked over at Lauren and saw she was smiling slightly. Seeing as neither him nor Lauren were answering Brian's question, he watched Jaime as she sighed and took it upon herself to answer.

'They've picked the freaking baby names but won't tell us!'

He smiled as everyone broke into excited mutters. The mutters distracted Julia and Jaime so he slowly slipped past them and walked over to Lauren. He slipped his arm around her and looked at their friends.

'You're not going to tell us are you?'

'Oh we will, just as soon as they're born.'

Every sighed and slowly went back to their jobs, although Joe shared more than one smile with his friends.

* * *

_A/N: Cya next time!_


	22. A Little Gift

_A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I meant to get this up on Friday but I was at a workshop at the BBC all day and then yesterday was super busy but if you don't mind me saying…I think it's worth the wait :')_

_Also…I wrote the ending for this chapter a long time ago and as I added it in to this update I realised that it's almost the end of the fanfic now :'( There'll probably be only two more chapters after this._

_StarkidPD: Hehe, my evil plan to convert is working! :')_

_1katiemariee: Haha well I hope your iPod was okay XD and hmm…where do you think it's going? XD_

_ThoseVoicesSingingOut: First HI! And haha sorry, they'll be revealed when they're born :D and YAY!_

_sami-sam99: Haha and yeah :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe thanks!_

_Little Miss Witterer: Your wish is my command…enjoy! :')_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

* * *

Lauren carried the two cups of coffee out of the kitchen, down the hallway and into the nursery. She put the mugs down on the windowsill before looking round at Joe and Brian. Somehow Joe had managed to rope Brian into helping him paint the room. Lauren wrinkled her nose a little at the smell of the paint but smiled as Joe turned to look at her.

'Are you leaving now?'

'Yep.'

She was going baby shopping with Julia, Jaime, Denise and Meredith. Sure, she would have loved to have stopped and helped paint...maybe. She smiled to herself and hugged Joe although he kept his paint covered hands off her. However as she pulled away, she looked to her side at the table they'd set up in the middle of the room. There was a small brush with cream paint on. A thought came into her mind and it made a mischievous smile spread across her face. In a flash she picked it up and dragged it across Joe's face, leaving a line of paint on his cheek.

Joe slowly wiped the paint of his face. She had not just done that. However the wide grin on her face told him otherwise. He looked down at his own brush and then back up at her. He smiled as her eyes widened.

'No Joe!'

However before she could finish speaking, he flicked his paint brush at her. She closed her eyes as the paint splattered across her face and he couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes you had to be immature to have the most fun. Joe ducked as Lauren jabbed the brush at him. However soon they were both covered in paint. Lauren screamed as Joe chased after her and wrapped his paint covered arms around her. She blindly flicked the brush and fell silent as she heard Brian sigh. The paint had landed on him.

'Sorry Brian.'

She smiled back at him as he smiled at her. They all looked round as  
Meredith walked into the room. She was looking down at her cell so hadn't noticed her three paint covered friends.

'Lo, Denise just text saying she's set off, she's picking up Jaime and  
Julia first though.'

Meredith slowly looked up at her friends. Her eyes met Brian's who smiled at her whilst trying to wipe the paint of his face. After a moment she looked at Joe and Lauren, they were still in each other's arms and both seemed to be avoiding eye contact with her.

'Aww, it seems I missed all the fun!'

Everyone laughed and she watched as Lauren carefully pulled away from Joe.

'I'm gonna go change.'

She moved out of the way as Lauren left the room. Joe followed her saying he'd get a towel. Meredith slowly looked at Brian and smiled as she moved towards him and looped her arms around his neck.

'So how about after you've finished painting this room, I hire you to repaint our hallway...you know the one I asked you to do when we first moved in?'

She giggled at the look he gave her before closing her eyes as he kissed her. It still didn't seem real that soon Lauren would be giving birth to twins and that Joe was the father. Meredith had always thought Lauren and Joe were well suited for each other but she had just thought it was just another ship that would never set sail.

Finally she pulled away from Brian and rested her head on his shoulder. She really did love Brian. Unlike Miss Lauren Lopez and Mr Joe Walker they were taking things at a normal pace. They'd been going out for a while before they had moved in together. With the ridiculous way Lauren and Joe's relationship had panned out so far, what with Joe getting Lauren pregnant first and then a few months later them starting to go out and then Lauren moving in with him, sometimes people kind of forgot Meredith and Brian were going out. But sometimes Meredith liked that.

'So, do you think we'll ever be doing this?'

Meredith felt her breath catch and she brought her head up so she was looking at Brian. What? Had he just implied what she thought he had? Brian had been thinking about them having a baby? Yeah sure Meredith had thought about what it would be like to have a baby since she'd found out Lauren was expecting but she hadn't really really thought about it. Until now.

She liked the thought of having a child but the whole idea of pregnancy and child birth really scared her.

'Maybe we can steal one of the twins once they're born.'

Brian laughed and stroked Meredith's hair. He'd thought about having children and he was more certain every day that he wanted to have children with Meredith. However, whenever he brought it up, he got the feeling she was a little scared.

'Wouldn't they notice?'

'No! You just create a distraction and then I'll sneak in and grab one!'

He laughed to himself and hugged her tighter. She really did know how to make him laugh and he loved her for it.

'How about first, we see how Lauren and Joe cope before we think of it ourselves.'

He nodded, that hadn't been a yes but it certainly wasn't a no. He caught her chin in his hand and in the next second had brought his lips down on hers. Her lips were soft against his and fitted his like no others ever had before. Brian knew that Meredith was his soul mate. Although he always felt too embarrassed to tell her that. Without thinking, he slipped his hand under her shirt and held her by the small of her back.

'Ah come on guys! My kids have gotta sleep in here!'

They quickly broke apart as Joe spoke from the doorway. Brian looked at Meredith sheepishly as he watched her wipe away the spit on her mouth with as much dignity as she could muster. Brian finally looked at Joe and was relieved to see he was smiling. He quickly pecked Meredith on the lips and smiled at her.

'I'll see you later.'

'Bye.'

He waved as Meredith left the room and then watched as Lauren came back in, in her clean outfit. Brian rolled his eyes and looked out the window as Joe took her in his arms and they started whispering to each other. So they were allowed to show signs of affection in the nursery and he and Meredith weren't? Talk about double standards! Finally he looked back around as he heard the doorbell buzz. It appeared he'd been saved by the arrival of the girls. Lauren kissed Joe on the lips before pulling out of his arms and walking to the door.

'Bye guys and Brian, thanks again for helping.'

Lauren walked briskly down the hallway and picked up her back from the table by the front door. Meredith was already stood out in the corridor so she quickly went out the door and shut it behind her. As they walked Lauren sighed, she didn't like the outfit she had on. Whenever she wore it, she felt it really over exaggerated her pregnancy bump, being nearly 7 months pregnant with twins, the bump was obviously big but Lauren felt the shirt made it worse. She pulled at her hair, she didn't like that either, why did it seem she couldn't look presentable anymore?

'Lauren you look fine.'

She stopped and stared at Meredith. How had she shown?

'Oh come on Lo, you are as easy to read as an open book.'

'No I'm not.'

'Yes you are.'

She huffed and marched past Meredith but she could still hear her sniggering to herself and eventually, Lauren smiled. They reached the stairs and went down into the lobby. Once out in Denise's car, Lauren was suddenly excited. She'd been day-dreaming about going baby shopping with her friends for months now, and with the baby shower next week, it was finally time. She smiled to herself and looked around at her friends, they were all smiling too, although that could be they had, had they joy of witnessing Lauren trying to get herself in the car. There was no real dignified way of getting in a car when you were heavily pregnant.

'Where are we going first? Toys R Us? They have like the whole Babies R Us section.'

Everyone agreed with Denise before breaking into conversation about what they should buy. Lauren smiled to herself, she was quickly realising that once Rosie and Katelyn were born she'd have to keep a watchful eye on them to make sure her friends didn't kidnap them.

'Lo, have you bought all the furniture yet?'

'Yeah, well we've ordered it, but it's not due to arrive for a few more weeks.'

Lauren looked out of the window as they drove. It shocked her that they were almost ready. They'd ordered the twin cot, the double pram, the changing table and every bit of furniture they would need. Once it arrived, the only thing left to do would be to actually give birth to the twins. Wow. So much had happened in the past 7 months and it all seemed to have happened so fast.

'Oh yeah Lauren, how are your antenatal classes going?'

'Good.'

She thought back over the past few classes her and Joe had attended. Lauren really liked the classes, however, with a smile, she thought about the very first class they had gone to three weeks ago.

* * *

Lauren tried to control her breathing as Joe brought the car to a stop. She had been excited all day but now the thought of going to antenatal classes was really scaring her. She rubbed her now profound pregnancy bump and tried not to make eye contact with Joe. However she finally looked at him as he slipped his hand into hers.

'It's going to be fine.'

She looked across at Joe and smiled at him. It was going to be all right. These classes were going to really help and Lauren really did need all the help she could get. She'd decided she wanted a natural birth, but she was scared. Sometimes it felt like everything was racing away from her, she couldn't believe nine months were almost up. However as Joe squeezed her hand she took a breath and got out of the car. Lauren stood on the sidewalk as Joe locked the car.

'Is it possible to fail antenatal classes?'

Joe laughed and took his petite girlfriend's hand. She really was worrying over nothing but he didn't blame her, although he tried to act calm and collective, he was nervous too. They walked into the building and signed in for the class. He could sense Lauren was almost trembling next to him so he slipped his arm around her and felt her lean against him slightly. The receptionist directed them to the right room and they set off.

When they reached the room there were already four other couples sat on the floor. Joe smiled back at them as they looked up and smiled. The couples were already sat on the floor on yoga mats, with the woman sat at the front and then her partner sat right behind them. Lauren led them over to the empty mat and they sat down. Joe looped his arms around Lauren's waist and rested his hand on the bump as she leant back against him. He kissed her on the head before resting his head on her shoulder. Now that they were here, Joe felt so excited, having classes meant they were so much closer to the birth of their girls. Little Rosie and Katelyn. It still sent butterflies through his stomach to think that soon, he'd be a dad. He finally came out of his thoughts as a woman walked into the room.

'Hello everyone, my name is Jenny and I'm going to be leading the classes.'

Lauren felt herself relax a little as Jenny put on some calming music and dimmed the lights. She said she was going to teach them some relaxation techniques to use during labour. As Lauren breathed in and out deeply, she closed her eyes and felt her mind drifting off. Even now, there were still days where she didn't quite believe she was pregnant. She was so excited for the twins' arrival but there was still so much to do. In a few weeks they were having the baby shower and Lauren felt like she had organised nothing. They still needed to buy a cot and a pram and every other big thing like that they had to buy before the birth.

'You're supposed to be relaxing.'

She smiled as Joe whispered in her ear. She chanced a glance at Jenny and saw she had her eyes closed and was deep into the breathing exercise so hadn't heard Joe speak.

'I am relaxing.'

'I can feel how tense you are.'

She looked sideways at Joe and saw he was smiling at her. After a few moments, she rolled her eyes but smiled as she tried to relax her body. She really did feel calmer. If only the actual birth would be this easy. The thought of the pain scared her a little but she knew the many years ahead of having the twins in her life would be more than worth the pain.

'Now, as each contraction comes we accept the pain and breathe through it.'

Lauren wondered if Jenny had ever had children because every person she'd spoken to about natural birth had said that as the contraction came closer together, breathing was the last thing you thought about. However she was sure she could use the breathing techniques in everyday life so the class was helping.

* * *

Lauren came out of her thoughts as they pulled into the store car park. They all piled out and headed over to the store. She felt a little overwhelmed by the size of the store but she felt calmer as the girls pulled her over to the Babies R Us department and she saw it was a much easier size to handle.

'So Lo, what do you want?'

She looked at her four friends. They were all smiling at her eagerly. She hadn't really wanted them to buy her anything but they had eventually talked her into it.

'Erm, well Joe and I bought everything we'd need for the first few months, clothes wise so you could get us stuff for when they're six months old.'

Her face cracked into a smile as Jaime, Meredith and Denise smiled and they rushed off to the clothes aisles. She looked at Julia. It seemed Julia was waiting until the others were out of earshot.

'I want to get you something special.'

She laughed as Julia grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the baby gift section. Lauren stared in awe at the shiny moneyboxes and leather photo albums. Some of this stuff was expensive. She picked up a moneybox that was in the shape of shoe and turned it over. Everything was so pretty.

'See anything you like?'

Slowly she brought up her eyes to Julia's. Lauren couldn't choose and she didn't want Julia to spend too much money on her. But then she spotted something. It was a set of picture frames centred around one word, family. It felt like it was calling to her. She put down the moneybox and walked over to the picture frame.

'That is beautiful.'

Lauren smiled to herself as she picked it up. She looked at Julia as she heard her gasp.

'Well, you have to promise me you'll use it to document the first year of their lives. And then use it to embarrass them when their older and their friends come round.'

She laughed and hugged Julia. Lauren felt so lucky to have such an amazing best friend. She handed the picture frame to Julia and looked up just as the others came into the aisle. They had all picked out a range of clothes and were seemed so excited at the whole thought of getting them. They all headed over to cashier desk and waited in line.

* * *

'What movie do you want to watch?'

Joe turned around from where he was looking through his DVD collection. A few moments later Lauren walked in carrying a bowl of popcorn. He smiled to himself, the bump was really getting big now, the twins were growing fast. They had just over 2 months left to go. He waited as she plonked down on the sofa and caught her breath.

'I don't mind, just no action ones where everyone gets killed.'

He nodded before turning away and slowly sliding Bourne Identity back onto the shelf. His eyes scanned the titles and then settled on one.

'Forest Gump?'

'Sure.'

Lauren smiled as Joe pulled out the DVD and put it on. The twins weren't moving around as much now, seeing as they were getting so big there wasn't any space to move but she was still having sleepless nights. Carrying twins was hard but it would all be worth it, when in a couple months they were actually here. She turned her attention to Joe as he came to sit next to her on the sofa. Once he was settled she handed him the popcorn, pulled his arm around her and rested her head on his shoulder. However she couldn't get comfortable, nowhere seemed comfortable now.

'Are you done moving?'

'No, you're not comfortable enough.'

'Oh I'm sorry.'

'You should be.'

Joe mocked rolling his eyes but smiled at Lauren as she looked up at him. They were so close, their noses were almost touching. She was beaming back at him and then lent forward and kissed him. It was a soft kiss but it sent tingles along his lips. He responded and pulled playfully on her bottom lip, her lips tasted of her strawberry flavoured lipsil. He kissed her more passionately and their tongues moved between each other's mouths. Joe's heart was racing as they kissed, every kiss felt like a firework. He sat up straighter as she moved closer to him. His hand slipped under her t-shirt and moved slowly across her warm back, he felt her shiver as he did so. She was just about to straddle him but then something stopped her. And what stopped her was in the form of a nearly 7 month pregnancy bump. The bump was literally making it impossible for her to sit on his knee facing him.

The moment had been ruined completely but Joe couldn't help but laugh along as Lauren burst into giggles and collapsed back next to him on the sofa.

'Let's just watch the movie shall we?'

Lauren smiled and settled her head back onto his shoulder as he smiled and nodded at her. With his arm around her, she felt herself calming. As the opening credits rolled she focused on the TV. Although her mind was on other things, she placed one hand on her bump and smiled to herself. She was really getting excited now. After shopping with the girls today Lauren couldn't believe they were almost there. She sighed happily and nestled her check against Joe's shoulder.

An hour or so had past and Joe was really in to the movie, however he looked down at Lauren as he noticed how deeply she was breathing. He laughed to himself, she had fallen asleep. His eyes shifted to the little round bump, well not so little anymore. She had on one of his t- shirts but he could still see the bump beneath the fabric. Joe smiled as Lauren squirmed in her sleep before sighing and becoming still again. It suddenly struck him that this was what he'd always wanted. His own little family.

* * *

_A/N: Hoped you liked it! And also I just want to say that if you want something to be in the fic then review and say! I love hearing your thoughts and will try and fit your wishes in the best I can :')_


	23. Baby Shower

_A/N: Hey guys! So if you follow me on twitter you'll know I've been writing this for most of the day XD and also you'll know that this story will not end with the last chapter of Incoming! Sequel hype!_

_Anyway hope you enjoy!_

_Thecocaptainofthefriendship: I hope there's enough fluff in this for you :') and aww thank you! Hugs!_

_PigfartsRanger: Aww! Hehehee :') AND YOU ARE AWESOME! *nods head*_

_: Aww thank you! :D I this chapter gave me so many feels XD_

_dance-sing-live: :') glad you think so!_

_sami-sam99: :') hehe_

_princessmag: Erm...erm...I can't put it in this chapter as it's kinda alr...I mean it's kinda been...fitted into the story already...WHO SAID THAT?! And thank you!_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Enjoy!_

* * *

'Is that straight?'

Joe pressed the edge of the banner one more time before looking down at Lauren. She was stood in the middle of the room with her head tilted to the side slightly. He looked back at the pink baby shower banner. All their friends were arriving in half an hour and he couldn't believe the baby shower was already here.

'Yeah, it looks great.'

He smiled at her and climbed down off the step ladder. He'd spent the morning decorating the room for the party. He hadn't known it was possible to have so much pink in one room but Lauren and the other girls had picked them out so he wasn't complaining. Lauren sighed as she looked around the room.

'I think we're just about ready.'

Stopping right in front of his little girlfriend, Joe looped his arms around her waist. He felt her rest her head on his chest and they swayed slightly, as if they were dancing to some unheard music.

'Do you ever get the feeling that this is all a dream? And tomorrow we'll wake up and it'll all have never happened.'

He started to stroke her hair as he thought over what she had said. He had gotten that feeling and sometimes it haunted him. This all felt too perfect. Real life wasn't this great, right? He would do anything for Lauren and he never wanted to lose her. Over the past few weeks he had realised something, Lauren was 'the one'. Yes, they had almost been forced together by Lauren getting pregnant but they hadn't been forced into actually trying to make a relationship work. Joe thought back to the month he had spent away from her. The main reason he had come back was because he had responsibilities as a father, however there had been another reason at the back of his mind. He'd come back because of Lauren, not just because she was pregnant but because he loved her, more than he'd loved anyone before. Running away had made him realise this and he was certain he wouldn't have been able to go any longer without seeing her. And now he got to see her every day.

'Well if this is a dream, I don't ever want to wake up.'

Lauren lifted up her head and looked at Joe. That had sounded so cheesy and yet she felt all warm and fuzzy inside. She looked into Joe's blue eyes and was almost memorised by them. What would the twins look like? Would they have Joe's blue eyes or her brown? Judging from what they'd seen on the scans, the doctors were pretty sure they would be identical. As she was carrying twins, Lauren was having more ultrasound scans than normal but she liked it as it gave her more changes to look at her little girls. She sighed happily and closed her eyes as she rested her head on his chest again. Joe had started rubbing her back and it felt nice. Carrying two little ones was doing horrific things for her back and shoulders.

'Are your shoulders still sore?'

She nodded and opened her eyes as she felt Joe pull away and lead her over to the sofa; he sat her down and then sat behind her. After a moment she felt his warm hands slip under the collar of her dress and then begin to massage her bare shoulders. Lauren felt her eyes closing; Joe knew how to give a good massage. Already she could feel the tension in her shoulder blades easing. Finally she felt him pulling his hands away but not before his hand lingered on her neck.

'Thank you.'

'Hey, you don't think I give out massages for free do you?'

Lauren smiled and turned to look at him. She raised her eyebrow and saw he was smiling at her. She kissed him on the lips and then slowly dragged her mouth to his ear.

'I'm carrying your children, isn't that payment enough?'

She whispered in his ear and then slowly brought her eyes back to his. Their playful joking had stopped now as they both stared lustfully at each other. How much time did they have before the others started arriving? However as Joe brought his lips up to hers, Lauren didn't care. She fell backwards onto the sofa as Joe got on top of her. She felt almost dizzy from all the emotions rushing through her but that didn't stop her from kissing Joe back just as passionately as he was kissing her. Her hands fumbled for the buttons on his shirt and she started to un-do them, as the shirt came undone, she brushed her fingers across his bare chest. Their lips momentarily parted as Joe groaned. Lauren's eyes met his and then they were kissing again. Slowly she walked her fingers down his bare chest until finally, she reached the top of his pants. She momentarily stopped as Joe's hand squeezed her breast. There was a thrilling sensation rushing through her. Her hand found the zipper but then.

The phone rang; meaning some of their friends had arrived. Oh for fuck's sake. Were they really being interrupted a second time right before they had sex? They were both frozen and listened as the phone rang again.

'Maybe they'll go away?'

'Come on Lo, it's our friends you're talking about, they know there's food in here so they'll never leave.'

She smiled, Joe was right. She quickly kissed him and sat up as he stood up. She watched him button up his shirt again but then, as the phone rang again she stood up and walked over to the phone and picked it up.

'Hello?'

'Lo! Finally! What took you so long? We were beginning to think you were ignoring us. You know as if you had more er...pressing matters to deal with.'

She could hear giggling from the other end of the line. Her friends were so dirty minded, sure they had guessed right but just because they had taken a while to answer the phone did not mean what Denise was implying.

'Hey do you want me to let you in or not?'

'Yes! We come bearing gifts!'

'And hey to you too! I did not fly all the way from LA to just stand outside your building!'

Lauren couldn't help but smile as she heard Joey's voice. She still couldn't believe Joey, Dylan, Brian R, Devin and Lily had all flown out just for the baby shower. She buzzed them in and then turned to look at Joe. He was smiling at her, but in a usual way.

'What?'

'Looking a bit flustered there Lo.'

She turned and looked in the hallway mirror. Great. Her cheeks were a rather deep shade of red. This would surely earn more teasing from her friends. However, as she heard a knock on the door, she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She opened the door and was almost flattened by the stampede of people into the apartment. It seemed everyone they had invited had all turned up at the same time. She hugged everyone she could get her hands on and managed to close the door behind them all. She received particularly big hugs from Devin and Lily, who were seeing the pregnancy bump in real life, for the first time. They squealed in delight and Lauren couldn't help but smile. Everyone slowly filed into the sitting room and found a seat, but not before placing their gifts down on the coffee table. Lauren was gobsmacked by the generosity of her friends. All the presents looked so pretty, some were wrapped and some were in bags and there was pink ribbon galore. For a few minutes she and Joe played host as they brought out drinks and snacks for everyone.

'I'm sorry Lo I have to say it; you look like you've swallowed a beach ball.'

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Joey. It seemed they were all flitting their eyes from Lauren and then back to him. What did they think she'd do? Lauren looked at them all and suddenly she was laughing and everyone joined in.

'Thanks Joey. I'll remember that comment when it comes to choosing your next birthday present.'

Everyone laughed and Lauren shared a smile with Joey before she turned to look at Joe. Whether it was by coincidence or the intervention of their friends, she and Joe had ended sat next to each other on the sofa.

'Shall we open some of these presents?'

Joe smiled and nodded at her. He looked around at all his friends, so many of them had been able to make it and he was grateful to them all. Carefully he picked up one of the bags and pulled it open.

'That's our present!'

He looked up and smiled as Jaime and Denise almost squealed in anticipation. He pulled out two bundles which were neatly wrapped in pink tissue paper. He kept one and handed the other to Lauren.

'Together?'

He nodded and they pulled open the parcels. Inside Joe's parcel were two little purple dresses with little white socks and in Lauren's there were two pale pink baby grows. They were bigger sized for when they were older and Joe was grateful as he'd been worried they would have been overrun by clothes for newborns.

'Thanks guys!'

Slowly they got through the rest of the presents. From Brian and Meredith they got little snow suits that looked like bear costumes. June had made little summer dresses for them for next year. The others had all gotten them cute little outfits or little trinkets they could use to decorate the nursery. And then came Joey's present. Joe had sensed him pushing the bag closer and closer to them as the present pile went down and finally he picked it up.

'Did you pick this out yourself Joey?'

'Yep!'

Joe shared a look with Lauren. He felt a little nervous to open Joey's present. There was no real reason why, it was just Joey was the group's practical joker and Joe wouldn't put this past him even when buying a baby shower present. Joe held out the bag for Lauren and watched her open it. Inside there were four baby grows which were folded so they couldn't see the front of them. Slowly Lauren unfolded one of them, printed onto the front was 'I just got here and I'm already awesome'. Joe burst out laughing with everyone else. Another one was the same but then the two others read 'I spent 9 months inside'. They were such ingenious gift ideas.

Finally all the presents were opened and cleared away to the side of the room. Joe watched as Julia rooted in a bag. He looked at the picture frame she'd bought them. It was such a thoughtful gift and Joe couldn't wait for when they'd finally have a picture in every frame and they could hang it on the wall. He had his arm loosely around Lauren's waist and felt so relaxed, however this quickly drained away as he saw what Julia was holding.

'Okay! Who's ready for some baby shower games?'

10 minutes later and all the boys had left the room. Lauren smiled to herself, they had been invited to stay but all had politely refused. She focused on Julia as she explained the rules of the first game. 'Guess the smell'. They spent the next hour or so happily playing the games Julia had planned and generally gossiping about the boys.

'Oh yeah and thanks Lo.'

'What?'

She looked at Meredith confused. She had sounded sarcastic but Lauren felt puzzled as she was smiling at her too.

'Since you've been doing this whole pregnancy thing it's gotten Brian wanting a baby.'

Lauren smacked Denise on the back as she started choking on a crisp. Brian now wanted a baby? And he wanted Meredith to have the baby?

'Holy shit Mere, what did you say to him?'

'I said we should wait a while but that it's a maybe.'

Everyone, including Lauren squealed, although this sudden sound seemed to make Meredith jump. However Lauren watched as Denise's face became serious and she took Meredith's hands.

'Meredith are you crazy? Did you not see those child birth videos in biology?'

Lauren frowned, from the way Denise was speaking; she had forgotten that in 2 months time Lauren would be giving birth herself. She rubbed the side of her bump, which made Julia look at her.

'Deeds! You'll scare Lo! She has to do her own version of those videos in a few months.'

'Well that's because Lauren has a boyfriend who can't put on a condom properly when he's drunk.'

Sounds of laughter rippled through the girls. Lauren tried to glare at Denise but she could feel her mouth curling up into a smile. The story of her first night with Joe had almost become a private joke among their friends. A joke among the boys was that it had taken Joe to get her pregnant before she agreed to go out with him. Even the morning after was often brought up, especially in the months before they had become boyfriend and girlfriend, Jaime had liked to remind her that she had said Joe was good in bed. Yes the twins were the result of a drunken night but that didn't mean they weren't wanted. Because of them Lauren could safely say she was with the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. They weren't even here yet and already they had changed her life so much for the better.

'So Lauren...is he still as good as you remember?'

Joe looked out of the door as the sounds of laughter floated in from the sitting room. He wondered what they were talking about, although of second thoughts, maybe he didn't want to know. He turned and looked around at his friends. They really did look like the outcasts from a party who had been banished to the kitchen but he didn't mind, it was nice catching up with the guys. They talked about sports mostly and there were some very heated debates about certain teams. Finally he eyes landed on Brian and he looked at him until Brian met his eyes.

'Are we still on for tomorrow?'

'Of course.'

He nodded before pretending to become very interested in the discussion Dylan and Joey were having. It was safe to say the baby shower had been a success. The girls had had their fun playing typical baby shower games and the guys had done the typical guy thing and talked about sport over some beers. It really was the perfect day.

All too soon it was time for everyone to leave. They'd see them all again in the next few days as the LA lot were spending a few days in town. They waved goodbye to them all before closing the door. Joe followed Lauren as she walked into the sitting room and then watched her busy herself with picking up empty glasses. He stayed watching her for a few moments; she was so beautiful, he could have watched her all day. However finally she looked up at him.

'What?'

'Nothing.'

He smiled as she pulled a face at him, she walked past him and he followed her into the kitchen.

'Are you pretending to be my shadow?'

He returned the smile she was giving him. He looked away from her and slowly picked up his camera from the counter. As he brought his eyes back to hers, he saw she was watching him intrigued.

'I thought we could get the first photo for the picture frame we got from Julia.'

Lauren smiled at Joe. It was a nice idea to start the journey the picture frame would chart now. So after a moment her smile grew and she nodded. Joe beamed back at her before walking towards her and slipping his arm around her. He held the camera above them and took the picture. The flash went over and he turned it around so they could look at it.

'Joe! You cut my head off!'

'I'm sorry!'

She patted him playfully and nestled back into his shoulder as he held the camera up again. The flash went off a second time and this picture was perfect. Lauren didn't normally like pictures of herself but she loved this one. There were ten separate frames in the one Julia had gotten them.

'One down, nine more to go.'

She laughed, turned round and pecked him on the check. They stayed stood, pressed close to one another for a few moments. Lauren slowly looked down at their entwined fingers and smiled to herself.

* * *

The next morning Lauren opened her eyes and sighed. She couldn't really say she was waking up as she hadn't really slept at all. She sat up as Joe came into the room and picked his wallet up.

'Oh good you're awake.'

She rubbed her eyes as he sat down on the bed next to her. Why was he up so early?

'What are you doing?'

'I'm meeting Brian remember.'

'I didn't think you'd be going so early.'

She watched as he finished tying his shoes and then stood up.

'Lo its 10am, it's not that early.'

Lauren huffed at him before lying back down in bed. He had refused to tell her where he was going and it was really annoying her. What could he possibly be doing which caused for such secrecy? She sensed him walking round to her side of the bed and then he leant down and kissed her on the head. Even though she knew it was immature, Lauren pretended to be asleep. A few moments later she heard the front door closing.

A while later Lauren crawled out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She spent most of the time making her breakfast muttering to herself. Joe was keeping a secret from her and she didn't like it. It felt like she was out of the loop. Obviously Brian knew what this secret was. Eurgh, this felt like a typical 'bros before hoes' scenario. Well she was fine on her own! She was a strong, independent woman! She nodded her head at this and carried her breakfast into the sitting room. Once she had turned on the TV she sat down and started eating...

...wow, being a strong, independent woman was boring. She reached for her phone and unlocked it.

*Text from Lauren*

Hey Juls! I have the house to myself today so I wondered if you wanted to come over. X

*Reply from Julia*

Hi Lo and I'm super sorry but I'm busy all today, maybe tonight? Xx

Lauren texted back with a fine and tossed her phone onto the seat next to her. Of course she was free tonight; they were all going out tonight. Why did Lauren suddenly feel like that friend who always got left out? Just because she was pregnant it didn't stop her from doing anything.

* * *

'She's mad isn't she?'

'It sure sounds it.'

Joe sighed as Julia spoke. He didn't like her being angry, especially being this close to the due date. Being angry caused stress and stress could lead to early labour.

'How about I get Meredith to go round and hang out with her?'

'She'll probably think we're all taking pity on her.'

'Well it's better than sitting alone.'

He agreed and watched Brian pull out his cell and send the text. Joe looked up at Julia as she squeezed his hand.

'Don't worry she wouldn't be mad for long...it's just little Lauren isn't the biggest fan of surprises.

* * *

_A/N: Ooo what could the surprise be? I think they're all going to buy her a massive teddy bear that she can put in the twin's crib...because that's what every pregnant woman wants...a massive teddy bear XD BYE!_

_Oh wait! I almost forgot! Over the Christmas holiday (which starts on December 18th for me) I will be doing oneshots! So I need you ideas! Seeing as Incoming will have ended by then, I'll be doing oneshots to do with that but I also want your oneshot ideas! So anything from Starkid, Harry Potter or Glee and I'll see what I can do :D_


	24. Incoming

_A/N: GUYS! This is the end :'( NO! Well the end of Incoming hehehe and I hope you like the ending…I did sneak out of a dress rehearsal just to update so I hope it's worth the effort :D_

_Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story over the past few months I LOVE YOU! 3 3 3_

_This chapter contains something that I don't want to spoil in a disclaimer but it's there XD_

_PigfartsRanger: NO YOU ARE AWESOME! And yeah! Although I did lose the sequel for like an hour today XD_

_thecocaptainofthefriendship: Glad you liked it! And you are wonderful!_

_dance-sing-live: Yeah haha AND YES I DID! When I first watched it I had a fangirl freakout and pretty much past out as I couldn't breathe and then I watched it again in a lesson and ended up on the floor crying XD_

_princessmag: Aww thank you! And woo! Haha I've already started some :')_

_StarkidPD: Yay! :D And I don't ship Bropez at all but seeing as you are super nice, I will try and write one just for you :D I'll put it up some time next week :')_

_TearsOfaClown: Hehe and I like it too! :D And haha all will be revealed!_

_sami-sam99: Yep Joe bought Lauren a teddy bear XD_

_1katiemariee: Yes! I will write you a Phan! I'll put it up next week :') and bahahaahah I didn't think of that when I wrote it but now I can't stop thinking XD and it's a good surprise and yay! Although we have spoken on twitter since you reviewed XD don't get distracted! XD_

_I do not own the characters, they are based on members of Team StarKid. Any relationships hinted at are purely for the sake of the story and I am not implying that they are real._

_Well guys…it's been fun!_

* * *

Lauren aimlessly flicked through the channels as she rolled around in little circles on the pregnancy ball. She sighed and rubbed her bump, this had been the worse month so far. She'd hardly slept and nowhere was comfortable anymore.

'Joe?'

'Yeah?'

'Can you make me some pancakes?'

'Sure.'

She didn't really want pancakes but she felt super crummy right now and she needed comfort food. She hadn't known being pregnant would be this uncomfortable; she'd take the morning sickness back over this. After a few moments she took a breath and attempted to stand. Finally she got on her feet but then clutched the bump and her eyes grew wide.

'Joe can you come here?'

'One second.'

'No now.'

Joe looked over his shoulder at the kitchen doorway. There was something about Lauren's voice that made him a little uneasy. He turned off the pancake maker and slowly walked into the sitting room. Lauren was stood in the middle of the room looking down. He thought he  
could see a puddle on the floor. However before he could comment on it she slowly turned and looked at him.

'My water just broke.'

He stared blankly at her. His mind couldn't seem to process what she had just said but then slowly the words sunk in. She'd gone into labour.

'But they aren't due for another 4 weeks.'

'Oh I'm sorry, shall I tell them they're early so they'll have to wait? I don't think it works like that Joe.'

Lauren watched Joe as the colour drained from his face. She felt relatively calm to say she had begun the process of child birth; this was what she had been waiting for. Joe seemed frozen to the spot which was very unhelpful as she needed him to drive her to the hospital.

'Are you having contractions?'

'No but I need to get to hospital.'

This sparked Joe into action and he quickly left the room and walked into the bedroom. They had packed Lauren's bag for the hospital a few weeks ago so they'd be ready but Joe still felt so unprepared. He turned around as Lauren appeared in the doorway carrying a pile of baby clothes.

'We can't forget these.'

He smiled as he took them off her and put them on the bed before pulling her into a hug. She seemed a little surprised at first but quickly looped her arms around his neck. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled at him.

'This is it then?'

Lauren laughed. She got butterflies as she thought about the fact that the next time she was in this apartment they would have their two baby girls. She kissed Joe quickly on the lips before pulling gently out of his embrace. She moved to the bag Joe had placed on the bed and put the baby clothes into it. However, just as she was zipping it back up she smiled to herself as Joe pressed up against her back and placed his hands on the bump.

'I love you.'

Even now, when they'd officially been going out for months, it still sent butterflies through her stomach to hear him say it. Despite how much she was enjoying his close touch they really had to get to hospital. She hadn't had any contractions yet but she knew they could start at any time.

'And I love you but I'd love you more if you took me to the hospital.'

She felt him tense as if he'd forgotten what they were meant to be doing. Before he let go he kissed her gently on the neck. Her eyes rolled back as his lips brushed her jaw line and he finally stepped back. Lauren felt a little dizzy but she took a breath and walked out of the bedroom. She was just putting on her jacket when Joe appeared in the hallway carrying her bag.

'We ready?'

As Lauren nodded at him, he walked past her and opened the door. They made all the way out of the building and into the car before Joe's eyes widened.

'Oh wait I forgot something.'

'What? Joe! I am in labour! What could you have possibly have forgotten that is so important you need to go back!'

'I just need to go back!'

Lauren sighed and watched as Joe got out of the car and headed back into the building. She was starting to panic a little. What if they didn't make it in time? They probably would as this was her first pregnancy, but she was still nervous. Finally she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Joe come back out of the door. He got back in and started the car.

'Did you get what you wanted?'

'Yep.'

She stared at him as he started the car but he didn't look at her. It seemed he wasn't going to tell her what he had forgotten, she sighed to herself, surely she would find out eventually. The drive to the hospital was mostly silently; the nerves of both her and Joe were almost visible in the car so talking wasn't very high on the to-do list. The journey seemed to take forever but finally they reached the hospital and went inside.

As they waited for the elevator Joe slipped his hand into Lauren's, she looked up at him and smiled. He knew this whole thing was only just beginning but he was excited to experience every minute of it. They reached the reception and got Lauren admitted to the hospital and then they were led to a room. Joe could feel the excitement building up inside him, but they still had a long way to go.

* * *

Julia looked up from her book as her cell buzzed. She stood up and walked over to it.

*Text from Joe*  
Hey, just letting you know that Lauren's gone into labour. Her waters broke just over an hour ago so the doctors don't think anything will happen for a while. We just wanted to let you to know, we're at the hospital now.

Julia quickly texted back a reply before running out of her room and into the sitting room. She stood over Jaime until she slowly pulled her eyes away from the TV.

'Lauren's gone into labour!'

She hugged Jaime back as she jumped up and pulled her into a hug. They both jumped and laughed as they screamed. Julia couldn't believe it, soon, two of her best friends would be parents. And Julia would be an honorary aunt. Joe and Lauren had debated about choosing God Parents but they hadn't been able to decide between their friends so it had been decided that all of them would be unofficial aunts and uncles. Those two girls were going to be the most spoilt girls ever.

* * *

Lauren smiled at Joe as he plumped her pillows up. She watched as he stood back and looked at her.

'Feel anything yet?'

'Nope, I think we're gonna be here for a while.'

She sighed and rubbed her hand across the bump. It was all almost over. Even though the past few months had been hard as the twins grew bigger she'd really miss being pregnant. Even though she was really excited for the twins to finally arrive, being pregnant was kind of nice. However, right now she was still pregnant. She hadn't felt any contractions yet and from what the doctor had said, it could be hours or even sometime tomorrow before she actually had the twins. But the twins were both a good size, given the fact there were two of them and were in the right positions so all they could do was wait.

* * *

Lauren gritted her teeth through the contraction and closed her eyes as she tried to control her breathing. Oh my god, that had been an awful one. Surely she was far enough along now for the epidural. She opened her eyes as the nurse examined her.

'Sorry Lauren, you're not quite there yet.'

She groaned in frustration as another contraction hit. She looked up at Joe as he pulled the hair off her clammy forehead. After a moment of looking at him, she reached for his hand, having him so close relaxed her a little but the pain was quickly sucking away that relaxation. He kept a hold of her hand even as she squeezed it hard through yet another contraction.

'Breathe Lo, breathe.'

'Oh shut up Joe!'

She hadn't meant to shout but she did not need him telling her to 'breathe'. She cried out as a particularly bad contraction hit. Joe had started rubbing her back but suddenly Lauren felt a little crazy because suddenly she was grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him towards her.

'You did this to me.'

'What?'

'This is your fault! You got me pregnant!'

Joe stepped back as Lauren let go of his shirt and squeezed her eyes shut as her whole body tensed through another contraction. He hated seeing her in pain but what could he do? And he knew she didn't mean to shout, he hoped they could give her the epidural soon. He watched as the nurse examined her again.

'Okay, you're just about ready.'

He held his breath as they rolled Lauren onto her side and started giving her the epidural. They gestured for him to take Lauren's hands, so he did. She kept eye contact with him and tried to breathe evenly.

'Try to keep as still as possible.'

Lauren kept her eyes on Joe and tried to keep still. As the needle went in it stung a little but she managed to stay relaxed. After a few minutes the epidural was in place and Lauren rolled back onto her back. She was in a sitting position with her legs up.

'We'll be just outside if you need anything.

Lauren nodded and watched them go. The epidural was such a strange sensation. She could feel it was working because another contraction came but she couldn't feel the pain. It was so weird. She looked up at Joe. He seemed so nervous. She smiled to herself, he was probably more nervous than she was. They were almost there.

'What time is it?'

Joe blinked and looked at Lauren as she spoke. He had been in a world of his own. In a few hours he'd be a dad and the enormity of this had suddenly hit him. Slowly he checked his watch.

'11:30.'

Wow, how was it so late already? They'd gotten here before midday and they still had a while to go yet. He sat down on the chair next to her bed and smiled at her.

'So this is it then?'

He smiled more as Lauren laughed. Without thinking he leant down and kissed her. He felt her tongue brush his teeth so he opened his mouth and their tongues connected like they had so often before. Although after a few minutes he felt Lauren tense and move away.

'Another contraction.'

She really couldn't feel it. It didn't even feel like she was in labour anymore. It felt like she was just lying in a bed and having strange sensations across her abdomen every so often. Well this was…fun.

* * *

It was another few hours later when she stopped. She had been reading a book and had almost grown use to the contraction feeling, but it had suddenly changed. They were giving her a new feeling…a feeling…to push.

'Joe, get the doctor.'

As she looked at Joe she knew he understood as he quickly pushed the alert buzzer. Lauren placed a hand on the bump as the feeling came again. She looked up as the medical staff came into the room. Joe had moved to take her hand and so he was well out of the way of them. A doctor began to examine her.

'Lauren, when you get the next feeling to push, I want you to push as hard as you can for 10 seconds, okay?'

Lauren nodded. She didn't think she was capable of words at this current moment in time so nodding had seemed to be the next best thing. A moment later the feeling came and pushed as hard as she could. Once 10 seconds was up she let out the breath she'd been holding and gulped in air. She looked at the doctor as they looked at her.

'Well done Lauren, I can see the head! Come on don't stop pushing!'

The doctor could see the head? It was finally happening; 8 months of being pregnant had all lead to this. Another contraction came and she tensed her body and pushed. It was still so strange as there was no pain but she could almost feel it. She looked at Joe and saw he had stepped forward slightly and gripped his hand tighter as he smiled at her.

'She's got your brown hair.'

Lauren laughed, even though she was close to tears and pushed through another contraction. Suddenly the room was filled with the screams as the first twin. Oh my god. It was such a beautiful sound. Lauren really was crying now and as she looked at Joe again, she saw he was crying too.

'Come Lauren! One more push!'

And she did and then the doctor was lifting something up. Her beautiful baby girl. A nurse had quickly moved forward to hold Lauren bump to stop the second twin from moving around too much. But Lauren could still see. They had decided to call the first born Rosie. She watched as they let Joe cut the cord, although his eyes were so full of tears, Lauren was doubtful he could see anything. A nurse wrapped Rosie in a blanket and handed her to Joe. Rosie was still crying but it was such a cute little sound. Joe held her close to Lauren and she stroked her hair. She had never seen anything so beautiful before. Her little round cheeks, her little red lips. Lauren could have stared at her forever, but there was something rather important she had to do, deliver Katelyn. The nurse came back and took Rosie away to clean the pregnancy gunk off her and then Lauren prepared herself to go through it all again.

'Okay we need to break the waters for the twin.'

She nodded and looked up at the nurse who was still holding her bump. She smiled back as the woman smiled at her. The doctor broke her waters and Lauren felt a contraction almost instantly. At least she wouldn't have to wait hours this time. The sounds of Rosie crying were still filling the room but Lauren tried to focus on delivering, just for now.

'The baby's moving down.'

The nurse had spoken more to the doctor than to Lauren but still it excited her. She hadn't gotten the feel to push yet but it would be soon. Another contraction came and then suddenly the pushing feeling was back. Lauren pushed as hard as she possible could, if it was possible, it almost felt easier this time. She'd already been through it once so kind of knew what to expect.

'Push Lauren! Come on!'

The doctor was being rather energetic in his encouragement but it was helping. A moment later she heard the sounds of a new cry. With both the girls now screaming at the top of their lungs, the room was deafening but it still sound so amazing. She gave one last push and then it was all over. She laughed through her tears and squeezed Joe's hand back as she looked at the gorgeous face of little Katelyn

Joe felt his breath catch as the nurse handed little Katelyn to him. She was so beautiful. He looked up at Lauren as they gave Rosie to her. He sat down on the bed next to her and they held the babies next to each other. Joe blinked and realised there was a tear in his eye. This was a dream come true. He had two beautiful little girls. Slowly, he looked up as the door opened and their friends peeped around the door.

'Come in guys.'

Quietly their friends filed into the room. He could see they were all staring in awe at the twins. They took seats in the available chairs or stood around the bed.

'So now can you tell us what they're called?'

Lauren smiled as Jaime spoke. She looked around at them all before looking down at Rosie.

'Well this little one is older by 14 minutes and she's called Rosie Elizabeth.'

She smiled as her friends broke into excited mutters. When they had first decided names Lauren had said she wanted the oldest twin to have her middle name. However she certainly didn't want Katelyn to feel left out so there was just as much meaning behind Katelyn's middle name.

'And her little twin is called Katelyn Marie.'

As expected this earned a particular reaction from two of her friends. The two being Miss Julia Marie Albain and Miss Denise Marie Donovan. Lauren watched as they jumped around. Katelyn was really named after Julia as Julia was her best friend in the whole world and seeing as Rosie had her middle name, it had seemed the natural thing to give Katelyn Julia's middle name. Although she was happy she had also given Denise her wish to have one of the twins named after her. Lauren looked up as a nurse came into the room.

'We need to take them now.'

Joe rubbed the back of Lauren's neck as they watched the nurses wheel the twins out of the room in incubators. They were both fine but they were four weeks early and it was procedure to take premature babies to the intensive care unit. He knew Lauren was upset and why wouldn't she be? She'd just been through hours of child birth to have her girls taken away from her within an hour of them being born. But they'd be able to see them soon.

Suddenly Joe felt nervous, this was the moment. He watched as his friends filed back in and swallowed as Brian gave him a look. Which really didn't help as now Joe could feel himself breaking out in a cold sweat.

'Erm Lauren, I need to ask you something.'

'What?'

Lauren turned to look at Joe. He still seemed so nervous. What was wrong with him?

'Joe, are you okay?'

People seemed to have noticed Joe's nerves and were now staring at him too.

* * *

'Joe, just pick one!'

Joe sighed as he scanned the displays. Brian impatience was making him nervous and he wanted to make sure he picked the right one.

'Brian, he can't just pick one! Lauren has to wear it for the rest of her life!'

'Well if I ever ask Meredith I know I won't spend this much time choosing.'

'And that is why, if you do ever ask I will be coming with you.'

'Shush Julia.'

'Guys!'

Joe ran a hand through his hair as his friends stopped bickering and looked at him. The sales assistant had already been over to ask if they needed any help twice and now she was watching them from the other side of the store. Joe wondered what they looked like to her.

'Joe what about that one?'

Joe looked where Julia was pointing. That one was pretty, it seemed to stand out from the ones around it.

'But wait, why is it sliver? I thought they had to be gold.'

'It's not sliver, it's White gold.'

'Argh! This is so hard, why can't I just get Lauren to come and pick?'

'No! That is so unimaginative! You need to pick it!'

He sighed again and looked up as the sale assistant came over again.

'Sir, would you like a closer look at any of our white gold items?'

Joe opened and closed his mouth as the sales assistant looked at him to answer. Finally he heard Julia sigh and step forward.

'He would love to.'

The sale assistant smiled and moved forward to unlock the display.

* * *

Joe brought his mind back into the room and took a deep breath. Everyone was still staring at him. He could almost hear Julia's silent screams as she stared at him. Somehow, he, Brian and Julia had all been able to keep it a secret over the past month or so but I was sure they couldn't hold their silence much longer.

'Lo I was wondering if...if.'

He sighed, words seemed to have failed him but there was one sure thing he could do. So slowly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box and then, he got down on one knee. Trying to ignore the screams of his friends he looked at Lauren. She was staring at him open mouth as he held the box out to her. Carefully, he opened the box before speaking.

'Lauren Lopez, will you marry me?'

Lauren stared from Joe to the ring that was in the box he was holding. He had just asked her to marry him. HE HAD JUST ASKED HER TO MARRY HIM! The ring was so pretty, it sparkled in the light and it was causing rainbow coloured specks to dance across Joe's face. For the first time she noticed their friends. They had been screaming as Joe had gotten down on one knee but now, as they waited for her answer, they had fallen silent. Lauren knew her answer, she had always known, so with a smile on her face, she replied.

'Yes!'

The room erupted into screams again but Lauren could only see Joe. His face had exploded into a smile as she had spoken and after a moment he had stood up and slipped the ring onto her finger. It was a perfect fit, well almost, her fingers were still a little swollen. They stayed holding hands as Lauren smiled at him.

'You got exactly the right size.'

'Well seeing as you wouldn't be there, we had it fitted to one of your other rings.'

'What? How?'

'Julia stole one of your rings during the baby shower.'

Lauren smiled at Julia as she smiled back and held her hands up. Joe pulled her into a tight hug and Lauren rested her head against his shoulder. After a moment he pulled away and steppes back as the girls swarmed around the bed to examine the ring. She'd have plenty of time to be alone with Joe, in fact she had a whole lifetime worth of it. Because they were engaged, so she smiled and squealed with the girls as the all each took her hand.

Wow. What a day it had been. She'd given birth to two beautiful baby girls and now she was engaged to the person she loved most in the world. Not bad for a day's work, huh?

* * *

_A/N: So how was that? I hope you liked it! The sequel will be up after Christmas so keep a look out!_

_And again, if any of you have any requests for one-shots, they can be StarKid, Harry Potter, Glee or YouTube related then send me them! I need something to do next week :D_

_BYE!_


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